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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22976560">do or die</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/baekhorny/pseuds/baekhorny'>baekhorny</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>EXO (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Clones, Dom/sub, Drug Use, EXO Have Powers (EXO), Enemies to Lovers, Hallucinations, Language of Flowers, M/M, Making Out, Mutual Pining, Obsession, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Porn With Plot, Rough Sex, Smut, Tattoos, Teasing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 15:47:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>31,534</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22976560</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/baekhorny/pseuds/baekhorny</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>baekhyun hates baëkhyun. or does he?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Byun Baekhyun/Byun Baekhyun</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>123</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>haha yall ever get so baekhorny that u write a 4.7k fic about it and then that turns into an actual full length chaptered fic and then you publish it even tho the clonecest hype is kind of already gone haha only me? ok anyways </p><p>first off thank u to miss sunfloweryoongi for beta reading and also convincing me to make dis chaptered lolol mwah ily best beta reader eva &lt;3</p><p>also warning there is a chance of a sad/not completely happy ending! working on a couple of diff endings and i just havent decided yet so ya :)</p><p>this fic starts off heavily ib the obsession mv and will travel thru other exo mvs! so vv inspired by exo lore and theories </p><p>will try to update around every two weeks or when i have time hehe</p><p>annnnd i think dats it so enjoy! lolol</p>
    </blockquote><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>in which baëkhyun takes a simple sentence a little too literally</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun stepped into the dark.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>his foot landed on the stone floor with a regrettably loud </span>
  <em>
    <span>clunk</span>
  </em>
  <span>.  red orbs ignited silently all around him, illuminating a narrow pathway, not unlike spaces in which baekhyun had seen fencing matches take place.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun was here.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun could not physically see his clone; but just as he intrinsically knew his right from left, up from down, he felt baëkhyun’s presence. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>fear and anticipation settled in his stomach. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the only direction that baekhyun could perceive clearly, however, was directly ahead of him, so he pushed down the dread pulling him back, convincing himself he would be at an advantage where he could at least make out his surroundings with clarity.  he stepped through the doorway and continued down the bridge, discovering it was longer than he had thought previously. it spanned thick, glowering darkness below and above him as far as he could see; there were no railings of any sort. it was just him, the path, the orbs, and darkness.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and baëkhyun.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>every second that passed without an appearance from his clone put him more on edge.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun’s skin crawled, thinking of his clone.  he had encountered baëkhyun briefly on several occasions in the past, each of which had ended with extremely narrow escapes.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>as he approached the middle of the bridge, the hair on the back of his neck prickled.  baekhyun stopped in his tracks, in time for him to hear footsteps behind him, near the doorway from which he had entered.  he took a quick, steadying breath, and whirled around to face. . . </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>well, himself.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“hello baekhyun,” a silky voice called to him.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>his own voice.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun swallowed thickly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun leaned on the doorframe; a relaxed, almost playful, smile across his lips.  bright platinum hair reflected the surrounding orbs, red splashes of light dancing across the space of bridge in front of him.  he wore a shiny black leather jacket, accentuating both his broad shoulders and slim waist. a thin silver chain passed across the bridge of his nose and behind both of his ears, embellishing a scar that baekhyun had slashed across his face in a previous encounter.  his slender fingers enclosed the handle of a fencing foil, slung casually over his shoulder. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun’s very existence mocked him, rubbing in his face that baekhyun would never, could never, carry himself with such an austere, unbothered air. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun took a steadying breath, keeping down the frustration brewing in his veins.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“take a picture, darling, it’ll last longer,” baëkhyun smirked from across the pathway.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>despite himself, baekhyun’s cheeks flushed.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you know, these orbs gave you away,” baekhyun mustered, injecting as much confidence as he could into his words.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he had resented the lights from the moment they appeared, taunting him.  that was </span>
  <em>
    <span>his </span>
  </em>
  <span>power. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“a power we share,” baëkhyun laughed, as if reading his thoughts.  “and yet, here you are. scared shitless.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i’m not scared of you,” baekhyun replied, but a quiver in his voice betrayed him.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>just as he had felt baëkhyun’s presence before, he knew baëkhyun sensed his lie now.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun laughed, lifting himself off the doorway and advancing down the bridge.  baekhyun looked behind himself, seeing only a dead end at the other side of the bridge. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>something within him told him to stand his ground, despite every muscle screaming at him to run.  baëkhyun continued to stride towards him, at a relaxed pace, that of someone who knows he has won. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i could kill you right now,” baëkhyun said, looking down his nose at where baekhyun stood.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he was only a few feet away from baekhyun now.  baëkhyun had a sword. baekhyun did not.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun scoffed despite his nervousness. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“but you won’t,” he responded.  he knew baëkhyun as well as he knew himself.  baëkhyun, in many ways, </span>
  <em>
    <span>was </span>
  </em>
  <span>him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“and why is that?” baëkhyun stopped, tilting his head.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>his vivid blue eyes pierced baekhyun’s warm brown ones, the only physical difference between the clone and himself.  they sparkled as a taunting smile stretched across baëkhyun’s face.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he had the upper hand and he knew it.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“because,” baekhyun replied intelligently. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun cocked an eyebrow.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“as much as i’d love to hear you finish what i’m sure would have been a brilliant and witty sentence,  i’m afraid i don’t have all night.” baëkhyun unsheathed a second sword hanging from a belt at his waist, tossing it to baekhyun without warning.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun caught it deftly.  he silently thanked the gods that he didn’t humiliate himself before baëkhyun again.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“it’s a pity your mind doesn’t work as fast as your reflexes,” baëkhyun remarked. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun rolled his eyes, annoyance building in his chest.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“are we going to sit here and chat all night?” baekhyun asked, straightening his shoulders and widening his stance.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he had nothing to lose.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“oh, no, darling.  we’ll fight. old-fashioned.  no powers. you win, you can walk out that door and reunite with your beloved exo.” baëkhyun spat the last word with venomous contempt.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“no promises you find them alive, however.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“and if you win?” baekhyun asked, trying to keep nervousness out of his voice.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“well, obviously, i’ll kill you,” baëkhyun grinned, his voice much too bright for the matter at hand.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun chewed the inside of his cheek.  there was no way out of this.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>not waiting for a response, baëkhyun spun on his heel and took a few short strides away.  turning back to face baekhyun, he took a fighting stance, gesturing for baekhyun to do the same.  somehow, baekhyun felt less nervous assuming combat position than during the previous dialogue.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun made the first move.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>leaping faster than baekhyun’s eyes could follow, baëkhyun thrusted his sword toward baekhyun’s chest.  baekhyun’s reflexes sprung to action; his attacks were almost unconscious. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun lunged at him suddenly, quicker than he expected.  baekhyun barely managed to meet the opposing sword with his own.  the force of both baekhyun and his clone thrown towards each other brought the swords screeching metal on metal to meet at the hilts.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun was mere inches from his face. baekhyun’s eyes were locked into baëkhyun’s bright blue ones in front of him. baëkhyun licked his lips.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun broke his sword away from baekhyun’s, advancing again.  baekhyun ducked to the right. baëkhyun came away with a patch of fabric that had formerly been the left elbow of baekhyun’s shirt.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>relieved he had escaped injury, baekhyun took a step back, away from baëkhyun.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>his stomach dropped as his foot landed on empty air.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he hadn’t realized how far to the side he had lunged to escape baëkhyun’s sword; he now stood at the edge of the bridge.  he clumsily recovered his balance, managing to place his foot back on solid ground.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>not quick enough.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>as he raised his eyes to meet baëkhyun’s, he was met with the tip of baëkhyun’s sword square in the center of his chest, almost knocking him backwards off the edge again.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun held his breath.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>any move would send him tumbling down into darkness.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“drop your sword,” baëkhyun said, voice dangerously soft, a crooked smile forming on his lips.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun said nothing, and clenched the handle of his sword tighter in his fist.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“do you </span>
  <em>
    <span>want </span>
  </em>
  <span>to die?” baëkhyun challenged, still with that stupid taunting smile on his face, pushing the tip of the sword ever-so-slightly further into baekhyun’s chest.  his stomach plummeted again as he was pushed just barely off balance. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun’s sword clattered to the ground at his feet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“good boy,” baëkhyun smiled.  baekhyun’s blood boiled.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and there baekhyun stood, literally on the brink of death. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he waited for the final push that would send him to his fate, screwing his eyes shut.  he hoped the other exo members had been more successful on their missions, mentally bidding goodbye to each one.  he hoped baëkhyun didn’t sense the hot prick of tears behind his eyes he was desperately keeping at bay.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“ready to die?” baëkhyun asked, a grin stretching across his face, startling baekhyun out of his internal eulogy.  “i hope exo don’t miss you too much. i’ll be sure to let them know—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“oh, go fuck yourself,” baekhyun snarled.  could baëkhyun do </span>
  <em>
    <span>anything</span>
  </em>
  <span> without taunting him first?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun stopped mid-sentence, then closed his mouth.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>his eyes lit up, almost evilly.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>for a moment, baëkhyun simply stared at baekhyun, smile playing on his lips, as if sizing him up. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the surrounding silence was deafening.  </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>baekhyun held his breath, expecting to be pushed over the edge at any second.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>“well,” baëkhyun started, slowly.  “if that’s what my </span><em><span>dear</span></em> <em><span>clone</span></em><span> desires, i’m </span><em><span>sure</span></em><span> that can be arranged—”</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“huh?” baekhyun interrupted, mind racing, trying to figure out what baëkhyun meant.  in that moment, he was willing to do anything to preserve his life. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you just told me to, quote, ‘go fuck myself,’” baëkhyun mused, eyes glittering.  “it’s pretty convenient that i have my own clone right here in front of me, then, isn’t it?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“uh,” baekhyun stuttered, continuing his trend of insightful comments. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>then, the realization hit him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>no,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” baekhyun breathed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“oh yes,” baëkhyun practically giggled. “that is, if you </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>want to live. . .” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun stared blankly back at baëkhyun, mind racing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i’ll make this very easy for you,” baëkhyun continued, drawing out every word deliberately, as if speaking to a small child. “either i kill you now, or i’ll fuck you and i’ll consider letting you go.  your choice.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>to fuck him, or not to fuck him, that was the question.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>now, baekhyun could not swear on a bible and say that he had never considered being fucked by his clone, with his own cock.  but sleep-groggy fantasies were a world far removed from the one in which he stood currently. as incongruous as it was to have his bloodthirsty clone ahead of him demanding to fuck him, baekhyun could not say the idea did not intrigue him.  he valiantly clung to his remaining dignity, however, not wanting to give up his pride for a task that could, to some extent, be accomplished by mere masturbation, to which baekhyun was no stranger. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he blinked slowly, considering his options. </span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>baëkhyun sighed exasperatedly.  “baekhyun, your eloquence dazzles me, but nevertheless,  you must </span><em><span>say </span></em><span>you want</span> <span>me to </span><em><span>fuck you</span></em><span>.  or else i push you off this bridge. and for god’s sake, make it convincing.”</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun still could not find it within himself to string words together. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun sighed again.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“very well then.  i mean, you’re missing out, but—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“waitwaitwait—” baekhyun forced out, survival instincts kicking in. “i’ll do it, fine, yes, i mean,</span>
  <em>
    <span> just because</span>
  </em>
  <span> i don’t want to die-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun smiled.  “do what, baekhyun? what do you want to do?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun flushed, frustrated.  he resented more than ever in that moment that baëkhyun was forcing him to throw away his pride, a quality they both knew was incredibly difficult for him to let go of.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i-” he started, then let out a begrudging sigh. “iwantyoutofuckme.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“what was that?” baëkhyun asked, a teasing smile stretching wide across his face.  “i can’t hear you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun weighed his dignity and his life in his hands.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i want you to-” baekhyun started, louder.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the last words tasted bitter in his mouth. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“-fuck me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun raised an eyebrow at him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>a new wave of frustration washed over baekhyun.  he knew what baëkhyun wanted from him. but he resented being forced to grovel for his life. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>nevertheless, he complied.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“please?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the plea rang high and whiny in his ears.  baekhyun winced at how pathetic, </span>
  <em>
    <span>small </span>
  </em>
  <span>he sounded.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“well, if you insist,” baëkhyun smirked, eyes glinting.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun wished he still had his sword.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun withdrew his own sword from baekhyun’s chest and caught both his wrists in one fluid motion.  one hand clasped firmly around both of baekhyun’s wrists, baëkhyun reached behind his own ear and removed the chain laying across his face.  it was flexible enough to tie around baekhyun’s wrists. baëkhyun took the loose ends into his own fist.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“wouldn’t want you running away, now would we?” baëkhyun explained, the eager glint in his eyes sending chills up baekhyun’s spine.  he convinced himself it was nerves. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun led baekhyun by the chain around his wrists to the door which he had come through.  when they reached it, he turned back to baekhyun to fasten the loose ends of the chain into a loop.  baëkhyun smiled brightly. baekhyun glared back. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“hands up,” baëkhyun demanded, pushing baekhyun’s back against the solid wood of the door.  baekhyun did as he was told; there was no use resisting. he had no way of escaping with his hands tied.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun lifted his sword.  baekhyun’s eyes widened in panic.  was baëkhyun just going to kill him after all?  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun thrust his sword perpendicularly into the wood of the door above baekhyun’s head, through the loop he had created in the chain.  baekhyun now stood with his back against the wood of the door, his hands chained to it.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he shivered.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun took a step back, looking baekhyun up and down, appraising.  even fully clothed, baekhyun felt naked. he shifted his weight nervously from foot to foot. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>ever fueled by pride, baekhyun had always taken on a dominant role in sexual relations with partners in the past.  he had certainly never wanted to be restrained, left fully to the whims of another person. he was much too proud to be willingly overpowered.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you’re enjoying this,” baëkhyun smirked, interrupting baekhyun’s thoughts.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i am </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” baekhyun protested, but even in his own ears, his voice sounded petulant, whiny.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun snickered, stepping closer to baekhyun.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun inhaled sharply.  baëkhyun smelled sharp, minty.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“then why are you half hard?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun looked down.  he was, in fact, half hard.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“but-i- no, i—” he sputtered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun laughed, reaching forward and cupping him over his pants.  his whole body tensed at the contact; baekhyun quickly bit down his lip to conceal a gasp. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he felt his legs almost give out beneath him; one simple touch and despite himself he was weak, shaking under the heel of baëkhyun’s hand. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun attached his lips to a patch of skin beneath baekhyun’s ear just behind his jaw, a spot that was particularly sensitive, still digging his hand into baekhyun’s semi-hard cock and baekhyun exhaled, hard.  baëkhyun’s other hand wandered under baekhyun’s shirt, brushing his sides with infuriatingly light touches.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun now realized the full extent of the danger his current situation held.  baëkhyun knew his body, inside and out. it took everything within him to hold himself together.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun screwed his eyes shut as baëkhyun’s teeth caught the skin of his neck, sucking.  he desperately attempted to keep down the moans threatening to escape his throat. he didn’t want to give baëkhyun the impression he was enjoying himself.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he was only putting up with this to survive, obviously.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun pulled away.  baekhyun sighed in relief.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“darling-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>don’t</span>
  </em>
  <span> call me that,” baekhyun spat. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“and </span>
  <em>
    <span>why</span>
  </em>
  <span> should i listen to you?” baëkhyun asked, raising an exaggeratedly inquiring eyebrow. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>once again, baekhyun found himself unable to respond.  baëkhyun grinned.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>darling</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” baëkhyun repeated, drawing out the word.  “if you don’t want to </span>
  <em>
    <span>die</span>
  </em>
  <span>, i’m going to need to </span>
  <em>
    <span>hear</span>
  </em>
  <span> you.  i kept you alive while i fucked you for a reason.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>frustration burned in baekhyun’s veins, giving him a flash of courage.  he looked directly into baëkhyun’s eyes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“make me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun raised an eyebrow.  baekhyun valiantly maintained eye contact.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“well, if you want to play it that way,” baëkhyun said, hands moving to the zipper of baekhyun’s pants.  he quickly maneuvered them down baekhyun’s thighs and dropped them to pool at his ankles, leaving baekhyun in only his shirt and underwear.  baëkhyun quickly disposed of those as well, exposing baekhyun’s dick, almost fully hard. anticipation spiked in baekhyun’s veins.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun took one of his fingers and began circling it around baekhyun’s entrance.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun sucked in his breath to keep a gasp from escaping his lips.  his composure was cracking as pleasure began to seep into his veins.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>it wasn’t enough, though.  he bowed his head, every cell in his body hyperconcentrated on not letting any embarrassing noise leave his mouth.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun, with the hand not teasing baekhyun’s hole, grabbed a section of baekhyun’s hair and held it back against the door, forcing baekhyun’s head up.  baekhyun whined in protest, his scalp stinging. he defiantly focused on a spot beyond baëkhyun’s shoulder to avoid looking in his eyes, teeth still digging into his bottom lip to conceal any sounds which might escape.  baëkhyun smiled.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun dug his fingernails into the palm of his hand, wishing baëkhyun would just </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck him already</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>only so that he could get out of here and rejoin exo again, of course.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“if you want me to fuck you properly,” baëkhyun said, as if reading baekhyun’s thoughts. “you’re going to have to ask nicely.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun gritted his teeth.  but he knew (and knew baëkhyun knew) that it was simply a matter of time before his need for real stimulation won over the shreds of dignity he was desperately holding onto.  his legs shook; his composure was cracking. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun’s hand moved from baekhyun’s hair to his neck, his fingers cold against baekhyun’s pulse. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i know you want me to touch you,” baëkhyun hissed in his ear, breath hot against baekhyun’s neck.  baekhyun shivered. “i know you want to cum. all you need to do is ask.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun inhaled, shaky.  baëkhyun was right (and he knew it).  his primal yearning for orgasm, intensified by baëkhyun’s teasing touches, was already beginning to cloud his consciousness.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun tightened his grip against his throat lightly, not enough to block the flow of air, but firm enough to threaten it.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“baëkhyun,” he breathed, voice shaky. he swallowed dryly, feeling his adam’s apple bob against baëkhyun’s fingers.  “let me cum.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“hmm,” baëkhyun considered.  “and what’s the magic word?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun took a steadying breath, pushing down irritation flaring in his chest. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>please</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” he pleaded, voice airy.  he hoped it would be enough.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun slipped two fingers inside him, expertly finding baekhyun’s g-spot, curling his fingers against it.  a low groan slipped past baekhyun’s lips despite himself, his hips grinding into baëkhyun’s hand, seeking stimulation.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>it was a strange feeling (those were </span>
  <em>
    <span>his </span>
  </em>
  <span>fingers, but simultaneously </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> his fingers), but he couldn’t deny that it felt. . . good.  baëkhyun knew just how to touch him to turn him to a moaning mess before him, and fully utilized this skill.  he began scissoring his fingers slowly; letting baekhyun become accustomed to the stretch before inserting a third finger.  baekhyun melted into his fingers, pleasure brewing in his core. at this rate, he wouldn’t last much longer. he eagerly anticipated the waves of orgasm washing over him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>they didn’t come.  every time baekhyun would reach the edge of orgasm, baëkhyun would pull back, slow down, keep him from spilling over.  baekhyun’s gasps of pleasure were turning to high-pitched protesting whines. being deprived of orgasm was driving him insane; he was far past holding onto his pride now, as he desperately ground his hips into baëkhyun’s hand, chasing needed stimulation.  baëkhyun finally released his hold on baekhyun’s throat to hold his hips in place, preventing him from pursuing his climax.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“patience, darling,” baëkhyun breathed.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“why can’t you just let me- </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck</span>
  </em>
  <span>- cum already,” baekhyun panted.  his vision was becoming spotted, his consciousness cloudy.  it took everything in him to actually form coherent thoughts; all he wanted— no, </span>
  <em>
    <span>needed</span>
  </em>
  <span>— was to finish.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“and why should i let you?” baëkhyun laughed, pulling away from baekhyun’s ear to look him in the eyes.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>frustration and his suppressed pride blazed through his body.  he had been humiliated, tied up, forced to beg, and was now being denied the one thing he </span>
  <em>
    <span>had</span>
  </em>
  <span> been promised: to come. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>it was too much for baekhyun to take.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun gathered saliva onto his tongue and spat into baëkhyun’s smirking face.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the silence that followed was deafening.  baëkhyun’s fingers froze inside him. baekhyun didn’t even dare breathe.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he was filled with instant regret, realizing that now his chances of finishing were now slim to none.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun, still with a smirk plastered across his face, withdrew his fingers from inside baekhyun to wipe his spit off his cheek.  baekhyun’s hole clenched around nothing. he let out a small whimper at the loss of stimulation.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun slipped his fingers into his own mouth, sucking on them while maintaining eye contact with baekhyun. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun stared, transfixed.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun removed his fingers from his mouth with a pop.  without a word, he reached into his back pocket and removed a small dagger.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun gulped.  perhaps the time for him to finally die was upon him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and all because he couldn’t shut up and just take a little teasing.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>instead of stabbing him, however, baëkhyun ran the tip of the blade lightly over the hickey that was blossoming behind his ear.  a strangled noise left baekhyun’s throat as he tried to hold his breath and moan at the same time. the blade traveled down his jawline, stopping under his chin.   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun didn’t dare breathe.  baëkhyun’s face was barely an inch away. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>through a fog of apprehension and arousal, baekhyun blearily reflected that meeting baëkhyun’s lips with his own would not be entirely unenjoyable.  as if reading his thoughts (not that baekhyun was being particularly subtle, with eyes glued to baëkhyun’s mouth), baëkhyun ran his tongue over his own bottom lip. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>behave</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” baëkhyun hissed. “or you will </span>
  <em>
    <span>bleed.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun made a tiny nod, careful not to impale himself on the blade under his chin.   he was still staring at baëkhyun’s lips. </span>
  <em>
    <span>his</span>
  </em>
  <span> lips.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun removed the dagger from his chin and ran the flat side under the length of baekhyun’s erection.  this was the first time his dick had been touched the whole night, but instead of relaxing into satisfaction, baekhyun’s body tensed to avoid impaling himself on the blade.  the cool metal against the sensitive skin raised goosebumps across his body. after a few strokes, after ensuring baëkhyun’s plan wasn’t to castrate him, he finally let out his breath, melting into the pleasure which came with the much-needed contact. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun continued running the blade along baekhyun’s dick, eliciting breathy moans and hisses as the cool metal came in contact with the warm, sensitive skin.  it took everything in his power not to roll his hips to chase more contact with the blade; his dick was one part of baekhyun’s body he would very much like to keep intact.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you’re doing well,” baëkhyun breathed.  despite himself, baekhyun glowed under the praise.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“so far.”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he pulled the blade away from baekhyun’s dick with a smirk.  baekhyun’s legs shook as he resisted pursuing more stimulation. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun flipped the blade in his hand, so that his fingers softly enclosed the blade, the handle pointing upwards.  how he did it without slicing a finger off, baekhyun did not know. baëkhyun held the handle a few inches before baekhyun’s face.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“spit,” baëkhyun demanded.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun did as he was told, spitting repeatedly until the handle was slick with his own saliva.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“this will have to do,” baëkhyun stated, withdrawing the dagger handle from in front of baekhyun’s face and circling it around the entrance of his neglected hole.  baekhyun groaned, craving deeper stimulation.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he didn’t have to wait long, however, as baëkhyun pushed the handle of the dagger further inside of him.  the handle was fairly thick, and his spit unfortunately did little to prevent friction. the stretch burned, and baekhyun screwed his eyes shut in an attempt to erase the hot sting of tears building behind his eyes.  the handle was long enough for baëkhyun to keep ahold of and still reach the bundle of nerves; baekhyun started spilling profanities and louder moans in earnest as he rapidly approached climax once again. baëkhyun’s free hand was stroking baekhyun’s dick, spreading precum along its length.  after being subject to only light, teasing touches, the amount of contact was now almost overwhelming. baekhyun’s head fell back against the door. white-hot pleasure pooled in his core.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“good work baëkhyun,” a voice rang out behind them, across the bridge.  baekhyun determined by the tinny intonations that the voice belonged not to chen, but to chën.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun swore as baëkhyun turned to face chën, abandoning his dick, feeling his orgasm recede yet again.  he tugged futilely at the chains, yearning to break his own hands free to jerk himself off.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>x-exo emerged from the shadows, leading defeated exo members by a variety of ropes and chains. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun felt sick.  but still horny. he also still had a knife up his ass.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“keep going,” baekhyun hissed, low enough for just baëkhyun to hear.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>for the first time, baëkhyun looked genuinely confused as he turned back to look at him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i don’t know if you notice,  but we kind of have company- </span>
  <em>
    <span>oh</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” baëkhyun’s eyes widened. “really? exhibitionism? are we really into that—?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“fuck off,” baekhyun snarled. when baëkhyun showed no adverse reaction, he added, “and suck my dick.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>with a smirk, baëkhyun knelt before him.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun felt ten pairs of eyes on him as baëkhyun took the tip of his dick in his mouth, spreading precum with his lips.  he moaned as baëkhyun took length of his cock, the tip hitting the back of baëkhyun’s throat. baëkhyun tongued his slit, and baekhyun couldn’t help himself; he bucked his hips into baëkhyun’s mouth, head falling back once again.  baekhyun’s orgasm, for what seemed like the thousandth time that night, crept into his veins, pleasure brewing in his core. baëkhyun returned a hand to the hilt of his sword still inside of baekhyun, pumping it into baekhyun’s g-spot again.    </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>it was finally enough to send him over the edge.  white-hot ecstasy crashed over him with a wave of released profanities and filthy moans ripping from his throat.  baëkhyun stroked him through his orgasm, licking off a drop of cum off his lower lip. baekhyun wished he could card his fingers through his bright white hair. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he then remembered the presence of his audience.  shame burned in his veins as his orgasm subsided, leaving him unable to make eye contact with his fellow exo members.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“am i the only one who </span>
  <em>
    <span>didn’t </span>
  </em>
  <span>fuck his clone?” chanyeol sputtered, outraged.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun’s head snapped up in surprise, finding a chorus of downcast eyes and shuffling feet at the opposite side of the bridge. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>a hickey blossomed on sehun’s neck.  kai and suho avoided eye contact, intently focused on inconspicuous parts of the floor, faces flushed.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i mean, not </span>
  <em>
    <span>today</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” chen answered airily.  he was the only one not being held captive by his clone. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“what do you want me to do with this four incher, anyways?” chanyeøl muttered gruffly.  chanyeol promptly fell silent.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“what the </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck</span>
  </em>
  <span> is going on-” baëkhyun asked, looking between chën and chen. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you didn’t know chen was a spy?” baekhyun taunted, his post-coital daze giving him a burst of lazy confidence. “i’ve know for </span>
  <em>
    <span>ages</span>
  </em>
  <span>-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“of course i know he’s a </span>
  <em>
    <span>spy</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he’s on </span>
  <em>
    <span>our side</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” baëkhyun snapped.  he turned back towards the rest of exo and x-exo.  “but i don’t know why they’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>here</span>
  </em>
  <span>.  don’t you all have your own missions-?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“there was a change of plan,” chen interrupted.  “you seemed to have forgotten that chën and i had access to cameras following all of x-exo to their separate locations. so, when everyone finished their individual missions, we brought them here for. . . </span>
  <em>
    <span>entertainment</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“fucking voyeurs,” baekhyun muttered under his breath.  baëkhyun snorted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“anyways,” chën started.  “both of you, over here. we’re going on a field trip.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“and by that, he means turning you over to the red force,” chen added, eyes glinting.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>without a word, baëkhyun turned back to baekhyun, and pulled the sword out of the door above baekhyun’s head, not making eye contact.  finally, baekhyun was able to put his hands down, in front of him. baëkhyun untied his wrists, motioning for him to get dressed again. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“uh,” baëkhyun started.  “i still have your dagger, um, up my-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“oh shit, sorry,” baëkhyun leaned down, and pulled his dagger out from inside baekhyun in a smooth motion.  baekhyun winced slightly as his hole clenched around nothing.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun’s lack of composure bewildered him; it was obvious that chen and chën’s arrival had thrown him off guard.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun pulled up his pants as quickly as possible, and once he was fully dressed once again baëkhyun grabbed his arm firmly and forced baekhyun in front of him, holding the dagger at his back, prodding him forward.  baëkhyun’s rough treatment disconcerted him for a second; he had briefly forgotten that baëkhyun was a nemesis and not a casual fuckbuddy.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>a feeling of dread settled in baekhyun’s stomach as he was walked across the bridge, baëkhyun at his back.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>x-exo had won. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>in which baekhyun can't help himself</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hey bros im back w chapter 2 !! thx sm for 250+ hits i fr never thought i'd even hit 100 so thank u thank u thank u !!!!</p><p>since my school online rn there's a chance updates might be more frequent as im gonna have more free time over the next few weeks :) luv u all and hope u r staying safe !! wash your hands !!!!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun’s eyes snapped open.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>through a cloud of sleep-muddled grogginess, he struggled to figure out what had awoken him.  the pitch-black cell in which he had been imprisoned by x-exo lay silent.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>yet, something in the room was </span>
  <em>
    <span>off</span>
  </em>
  <span>.  baekhyun blinked blearily.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he then conveniently remembered that he possessed the power of light.  he held out the palm of his hand, igniting an orb bright enough to light up the room.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the blank, white walls of the cell stared back at him.  the creaky wooden door connecting his cell to a small bathroom was closed, just as he had left it before he went to sleep.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun started to roll over to go back to sleep, but a silhouette in the corner of his vision caught his attention. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun sat at the foot of his bed.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>jesus christ</span>
  </em>
  <span>-!” baekhyun exclaimed, jumping up into a sitting position, pulling his blanket over his bare chest. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“close, but no— it is i, baëkhyun,” baëkhyun responded smoothly.  “good evening. or should i say, good morning. it is about two a.m., i beli-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“why are you here?” baekhyun groaned, sleep still hanging in his voice.  he rubbed his eyes, willing it to be a dream. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he was suddenly painfully aware of the fact that he was clad only in his underwear.  he tugged at the blanket again. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i just felt like it,” baëkhyun said simply.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun rolled his eyes.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“if you need to gloat or whatever, can’t it wait till morning?” baekhyun asked. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> he </span>
  <em>
    <span>just</span>
  </em>
  <span> wanted to go back to sleep. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“technically it </span>
  <em>
    <span>is</span>
  </em>
  <span> morning, darling.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you are so annoying.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“well, i am cloned from </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>, after all.”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“what </span>
  <em>
    <span>are </span>
  </em>
  <span>you here for then?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun’s eyes flicked down, and then back up to meet baekhyun’s, almost hungrily.  he said nothing.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun didn’t get the hint. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“look, i get that x-exo won and everything, but is it </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>necessary to wake me up at two in the morning to rub it in? don’t you have better things to do?”  baekhyun asked, breaking the silence.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“darling, do you really think that i would go out of my way and waste my precious time just to </span>
  <em>
    <span>gloat</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” baëkhyun replied.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“is this a trick question?”  baekhyun deadpanned.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun sighed.  “it really is such a pity you have such a negative opinion of me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“do i have to remind you of the</span>
  <em>
    <span> numerous</span>
  </em>
  <span> times you have literally tried to </span>
  <em>
    <span>murder me?</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“can’t we just let bygones be bygones?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“–not to mention that you were </span>
  <em>
    <span>supposed</span>
  </em>
  <span> to let me go after you, um. . . well, you know. . .” baekhyun trailed off, the recollection of what had occurred between him and his clone bringing heat to his cheeks.   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“well, that wasn’t my fault–”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>how </span>
  </em>
  <span>was it not your fault–!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“how was </span>
  <em>
    <span>i </span>
  </em>
  <span>supposed to know chën was going to show up?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“and i’m supposed to just </span>
  <em>
    <span>believe</span>
  </em>
  <span> that you had no idea?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>quicker than baekhyun could react, baëkhyun crossed the space of the bed separating them and hooked his fingers under baekhyun’s chin, bringing it up to look directly into his face. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i think we </span>
  <em>
    <span>both</span>
  </em>
  <span> know i’m a man of my word, darling.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“prove it then. let me out of here.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the challenge hung in the space of air between their faces.  baëkhyun’s eyes searched baekhyun’s face for the presence of a bluff.  baekhyun tried not to stare at baëkhyun’s lips.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you know i can’t do that,” baëkhyun responded, voice softer.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“how else are you going to make it up to me then?” baekhyun challenged.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i’ve already sucked your dick, princess, what more do you want?” baëkhyun smirked, letting his fingers drop from baekhyun’s chin to drag the blanket down baekhyun’s chest.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>if he was ever questioned about what he did next, baekhyun would blame his lack of sleep for his lapse in judgement.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun hooked his fingers around the back of baëkhyun’s neck, tugging the other’s face down to his by the short hairs at his nape.  baëkhyun was forced off balance, one hand landing hard on baëkhyun’s shoulder, the other scrambling in the sheets around baekhyun’s waist.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun tilted his head to meet baëkhyun’s lips.  his first thought was the realization that despite their past, erm, history, he hadn’t actually kissed baëkhyun before.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>his lips were soft.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he felt tense on his lips for a moment, but baekhyun soon felt baëkhyun’s signature smirk against his mouth as he relaxed into him.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>oh god, what had he gotten himself into?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and then baëkhyun’s tongue was on the seam of his lips and he could feel hands in his hair and a weight on his thighs as baëkhyun settled in his lap and maybe he could think about the implications of this later because it felt good here and now and what harm could just one more time do? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun parted his lips to allow baëkhyun to lick into his mouth, moving his hands down to baëkhyun’s waist to pull him closer. baëkhyun smiled against his lips again, and baekhyun felt heat in his cheeks again as he realized how needy he seemed.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and then baëkhyun was pulling baekhyun’s bottom lip between his teeth and his mind went back to comfortable static. he sighed, savoring the sting. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun’s fingers found the hem of baëkhyun’s shirt and slipped under it. he felt baëkhyun’s sharp exhale on his cheek as his fingernails grazed his sides and he felt goosebumps under the pads of his fingers as he let his hands wander further under baëkhyun’s shirt.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and then baëkhyun was pulling away from him to take his shirt off and baekhyun couldn’t even begin to feel disappointed because seeing baëkhyun’s flushed cheeks and kiss-swollen lips was more than enough and he was going to see baëkhyun shirtless—</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>wait. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“my eyes are up here, darling,” baëkhyun said, breaking the silence. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>but baekhyun’s eyes were fixated on baëkhyun’s hip. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you-” baekhyun started. “you have a tattoo.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“oh, do i?” baëkhyun asked, feigning ignorance and looking down at himself.  “why yes, i suppose i do.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun gulped, still shamelessly staring at the black flowered ink crawling over baëkhyun’s hipbone. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“what kind of flower is it?” he asked, breathless. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun rolled his eyes, but the expression on his face showed he wasn’t really annoyed.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“it’s called monkshood,” baëkhyun grinned.  “it’s used to poison people.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“oh,” baekhyun said, tracing his thumb over the petals.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“how articulate you are,” baëkhyun responded, crooked smile on his lips.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and then before baekhyun fully realized what he was doing, he had pushed baëkhyun onto his back and was climbing on top of him.  baëkhyun’s smile grew wider.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you really think you can— </span>
  <em>
    <span>oh,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” baëkhyun cut off with a sudden inhale as baekhyun began sucking at a piece of skin under his jaw. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“yeah? you want to finish that sentence?” baekhyun breathed in his ear, quickly gaining confidence.   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun huffed, trying to squirm out from under baekhyun.  baekhyun had him securely pinned down by his forearms, however, so his efforts were futile.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“don’t make me tie you up,” baekhyun teased, thoroughly enjoying the switch in control.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you wouldn’t,” baëkhyun scoffed.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“doll, i have a belt on my dresser,” baekhyun replied smoothly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun flushed at the pet name. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“don’t make me use it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and with that, baekhyun went back to the spot at baëkhyun’s neck, pulling the skin between his teeth then soothing it with his tongue.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“baekhyun, you can’t, what if chën sees-” baëkhyun protested, struggling in vain to move out of baekhyun’s reach.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“if only i cared,” baekhyun responded, unfazed.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“baekhyun. please,” baëkhyun said again. the tone of his voice and the fact that he was calling baekhyun by his real name were enough for baekhyun to actually stop this time, looking into his face.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“chën doesn’t know i’m here,” baëkhyun said, voice soft.  “it’s honestly for your safety, too, if he found out-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“okay, fine. no hickeys, i get it,” baëkhyun responded shortly, cutting him off.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>an awkward silence stretched for several painful seconds.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“maybe i should just go,” baëkhyun said, biting his lower lip.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“if you want to,” baekhyun said, releasing baëkhyun’s arms and sitting up.  for some reason he</span>
</p><p>
  <span> was. . . disappointed? no, that couldn’t be it—</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“god, i can’t believe you actually fell for that.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and then baekhyun was knocked flat on his back, his head missing the headboard by mere inches.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you think chën cares what i do to you?” baëkhyun taunted, his face coming into focus above baekhyun’s own.  “now, where is that belt you mentioned-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>annoyance flared in baekhyun’s chest.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he then realized that the dresser on which his belt rested was across the room, meaning that baëkhyun could not keep a hold on him and retrieve the belt simultaneously.  baekhyun smiled to himself.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>maybe the upper hand wasn’t completely lost after all.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun, glancing across the room, had also located the belt and was looking between it and baekhyun beneath him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“if you move,” baëkhyun hissed. “you will </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> enjoy the result.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“oh, i’m </span>
  <em>
    <span>so</span>
  </em>
  <span> scared,” baekhyun replied, sarcasm dripping from his words.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun scoffed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“say whatever you want,” baëkhyun said dismissively, rising from the bed and walking towards the dresser. “i </span>
  <em>
    <span>know </span>
  </em>
  <span>we aren’t masochists.”   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“wanna test that?” baekhyun quipped, folding his arms behind his head and crossing his legs; the very picture of relaxation.    </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun narrowed his eyes at him from the opposite side of the room, belt in hand.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“since when have you had the guts to talk back to me?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“doll, it’s 2 a.m. and i’m horny,” baekhyun grinned.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun shook his head.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i will never understand you,” baëkhyun said.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you don’t have to understand me to fuck me,” baekhyun replied, crooked smile on his lips.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun snorted.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and then he was climbing back on the bed, straddling baekhyun’s hips.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“hands,” baëkhyun demanded, holding his own out in front of baekhyun.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun didn’t really feel like like doing what he was told, however, so instead of giving him his hands, baekhyun folded his knees up for leverage and bucked his hips sharply under baëkhyun, throwing him off balance.  baekhyun quickly grabbed the belt, held tightly in baëkhyun’s grip, and tugged hard to his left, causing baëkhyun, already off balance, to roll off of him. baekhyun sprung up and straddled his clone, smoothly catching both of his wrists in one hand.  ignoring baëkhyun’s sputtered protests, he managed to thread the belt through the rungs of the headboard and around both baëkhyun’s wrists, binding him to the bedframe.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>that’s</span>
  </em>
  <span> better,” baekhyun grinned, tugging on the loose ends of the belt to test its security.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i don’t really share that opinion, actually,” baëkhyun huffed, trying in vain to worm his way out of the restraints.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i don’t know, a taste of your own medicine might be good for you,” baekhyun grinned.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun snorted.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you’re all talk, darling,” baëkhyun smirked, eyes glinting.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun cocked an eyebrow and leaned down, mouth near baëkhyun’s ear.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“oh yeah? say it again,” baekhyun said, voice dangerously soft.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>“</span><em><span>i</span></em> <em><span>said, </span></em><span>you don’t have the balls to actually—”</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>before he could finish, baekhyun was kissing down baëkhyun’s neck again, intentionally dragging his teeth along all the spots he knew were most sensitive, savoring the way baëkhyun’s breath caught in his throat beneath under his mouth.  he was rewarded with high, breathy exhales escaping baëkhyun’s lips. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he ventured further down baëkhyun’s body, wet lips and grazing teeth marking his chest.  baëkhyun’s exhales were coming out hard through his nose; baekhyun could feel his quickening heartbeat beneath his lips as he worked his way slowly, lazily, down his chest, teasing the skin just next to baëkhyun’s nipple.   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun pressed his tongue flat on the nub, tracing circles around the other with one of his fingers.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun’s back arched, exhaling hard through his nose. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun hummed, teeth enclosing the hardened bud, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>finally</span>
  </em>
  <span>, a real, albeit strangled, moan from baëkhyun.  he rolled the other between his fingers, twisting slightly so it just bordered on painful.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” baëkhyun breathed.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun felt his dick twitch.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>as much as he was enjoying being in control, baekhyun’s own patience was wearing thin.  he pushed himself back, so his face was even with the tattoo on baëkhyun’s hip.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun brushed his lips along one of the blossoms slowly, softly, drinking in how baëkhyun reacted to his touches, how goosebumps were raising beneath his mouth.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“darling, are you going to fuck me or not?” baëkhyun said suddenly, desperation adding an edge to his voice.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“patience,” baekhyun replied simply, but he was already unzipping baëkhyun’s pants.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun pulled baëkhyun’s pants down his legs and off his ankles, throwing them to the side of the bed.  baëkhyun lay in just his underwear before him, his erection straining against the fabric, a wet patch at the front indicating he was already leaking precome.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he was so pretty like this.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun raised an eyebrow expectantly as several seconds passed, baekhyun drinking in the sight before him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and then just looking wasn’t enough.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun scrambled to pull baëkhyun’s briefs down over his thighs to join his pants in a pile on the floor beside the bed.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>where to start? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“again, like, any day now,” baëkhyun said, breaking the silence.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you really want me that bad, huh?” baekhyun smirked, quirking an eyebrow.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“that’s not what i—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“whatever you say, doll.”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun was, for once, at a loss for words, opting to roll his eyes instead.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun quickly yanked his pillow out from under baëkhyun’s head and maneuvered it so it rested under baëkhyun’s hips, both of his legs bent up.  baëkhyun’s eyes narrowed, trying to figure out what baekhyun had planned for him.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>a warm, tingly feeling of satisfaction spread from baekhyun’s core as he fully grasped that baëkhyun was completely at his mercy.  just </span>
  <em>
    <span>thinking</span>
  </em>
  <span> about baëkhyun— haughty, taunting baëkhyun— falling apart on his tongue sent a shiver down his spine straight to his dick.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun leaned down and began peppering kisses down baëkhyun’s inner thighs, smiling when baëkhyun tensed, inhaling sharply.  as he came closer to baëkhyun’s core he slowed, spending more time making sure that a mark would be left behind before continuing further up his thigh.  baëkhyun’s hips pushed upwards, trying to chase baëkhyun’s mouth. baekhyun firmly pressed them back down, ignoring the whine of protest that escaped baëkhyun’s lips.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>as his face approached an even level with baëkhyun’s hips, baekhyun lifted baëkhyun’s legs over his shoulders to give himself better access.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun circled his tongue around the rim of baëkhyun’s hole. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun’s reaction was electric; his back arched, and a strangled moan left his throat.  his hole fluttered around baekhyun’s tongue. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>it was filthy— </span>
  <em>
    <span>wrong</span>
  </em>
  <span>, even— </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>but he </span>
  <em>
    <span>had</span>
  </em>
  <span> to take advantage of this opportunity, right?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun formed a point with his tongue and pressed into baëkhyun’s hole as far as it could reach, met with little resistance. the noise that left baëkhyun’s throat was </span>
  <em>
    <span>obscene</span>
  </em>
  <span>; encouraged, baekhyun closed his lips around the rim and sucked.  as much as he could with limited mobility, using his legs as leverage, baëkhyun fucked himself down on baekhyun’s tongue, a chorus of low profanities and lewd moans ripping from his throat.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“baekhyun,” baëkhyun managed, voice wrecked. “i’m- i’m close—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>already? baekhyun was just getting started.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun withdrew his tongue from inside baëkhyun, smirking at the protesting whine and observing the way his hole clenched around nothing.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“oh, </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck you</span>
  </em>
  <span>—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun didn’t respond, licking lightly, delicately, just around the rim of baëkhyun’s hole, knowing full well the infuriatingly teasing touches would frustrate baëkhyun further.  he was proven correct when baëkhyun began pulling desperately at his restraints, his hips jerking in a clumsy attempt to pursue more stimulation.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“baekhyun,” he breathed again. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>please.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun hummed as he pressed his lips to his hole in a chaste kiss.  baëkhyun’s hips stuttered, the subtle vibration sending a shock of pleasure through his body. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun pulled back, replacing his tongue with two fingers, circling them teasingly around baëkhyun’s rim before slipping them inside, expertly curling them into his prostate.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he felt baëkhyun’s walls clench around his fingers and he saw baëkhyun’s head thrown back as he came on his stomach.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun stared.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“did you just come untouched?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun nodded silently, eyes screwed shut as his orgasm washed over him.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“we do that?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i guess so,” baëkhyun forced out, voice ragged.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i just made you come untouched,” baekhyun said, still not fully believing it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“congratulations,” baëkhyun replied, breathing steadying.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“and you said i was all talk,” baekhyun said, a gloating tone creeping into his voice.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun shot him a dirty look but said nothing.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>it was then that a throbbing sensation reminded baekhyun of his own hard cock.  quickly maneuvering his underwear off, he wrapped his hand around his dick, eyes fluttering closed at the pleasure which resulted from the contact.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you have me right here and you’re going to just jerk yourself off?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun’s hand froze as he eyed baëkhyun suspiciously.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“it’s not that i don’t trust you, but-” baekhyun started, then reconsidered.  “actually, that’s exactly what it is—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“oh, come on,” baëkhyun said, a grin growing on his lips.  “don’t act like you didn’t enjoy yourself last time.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun flushed, dick twitching slightly at the memory.  baëkhyun smirked.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he wasn’t wrong.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>but then, the events of tonight hit him.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he had let baëkhyun take advantage of him </span>
  <em>
    <span>again</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and even worse, this time of his own free will.  he tasted bile in the back of his throat, swallowing thickly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>fuck.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun shook his head, clearing his thoughts.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“another time,” he said curtly, his hand resuming pumping his dick.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“oh? there’s going to be another time?” baëkhyun grinned, raising an eyebrow.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun internally kicked himself.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he chose not to dignify it with a response, reaching off the bed to grab one of their shirts.  a few minutes later he came into it, the image of baëkhyun’s intently watching face burned into the back of his eyelids.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“so,” baëkhyun said, after baekhyun’s breathing had steadied.  “i would quite like to be untied.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“would you now?” baekhyun deadpanned.  he couldn’t meet his eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“yes,” baëkhyun replied, not batting an eye.  “and if you don’t mind, i’d also like a towel.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun turned to him then, taking in the now-drying cum over baëkhyun’s stomach.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he had done that.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun rose silently from the bed, tossing the shirt into a dirty clothes pile on the way to the small bathroom attached to his cell.  he dampened a towel and returned to the bed, setting it down while he unclasped the belt around baëkhyun’s wrists and unwrapped it from the rungs of the headboard.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun quickly sat up and rose from the bed, snatching the towel and walking into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.  baekhyun pulled on a pair of sweatpants and climbed back into his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>regret and shame battled satisfaction and lingering arousal in his mind (he had, after all, managed to make </span>
  <em>
    <span>baëkhyun</span>
  </em>
  <span> come untouched, which had to be a pretty big accomplishment, right?).  he honestly didn’t know how he felt about this— thing? with baëkhyun— no, it wasn’t even a </span>
  <em>
    <span>thing</span>
  </em>
  <span>; even calling it that would make it real and baekhyun couldn’t—</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun took a deep breath, steadying himself.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>no, baekhyun </span><em><span>knew</span></em><span> he was loyal to exo— those were his friends, his </span><em><span>family</span></em><span>; he could never, </span><em><span>would</span></em> <em><span>never</span></em><span> betray them.  certainly not for his clone; baëkhyun, who looked down on him and sought to humiliate him at every chance.  baëkhyun, who would never feel anything but disdain for him—</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>why did he care? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun was literally manufactured for this; he was the red force’s tool made to mock him, to throw him off guard, to take advantage of his weaknesses and use them to defeat him and the rest of exo.  baëkhyun was </span>
  <em>
    <span>using</span>
  </em>
  <span> him, and baekhyun was playing along perfectly.    </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>one thing was for certain. this would be the last time.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun shivered, air on his chest raising goosebumps.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>head still swimming, he reached down the side of the bed to retrieve the shirt which still lay on the floor.    </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he froze, shirt half over his head.  the sharp scent on the fabric against his nose indicated that this wasn’t his shirt. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>it was baëkhyun’s.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he breathed in, letting the smell of his clone permeate through his nose.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“darling, what are you doing?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun scrambled to yank the shirt back over his head, throwing it back to the floor as if burned.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“not my shirt,” baekhyun mumbled.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“how observant,” baëkhyun smirked, picking the shirt up from the floor and pulling it on.  “you know, if you want to wear my clothes all you have to do is ask—” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i don’t,” baekhyun cut him off, but even to him it sounded petulant, like a child.  baëkhyun just smiled.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>before baekhyun could stop him, baëkhyun climbed into the bed, pulling the blankets over himself.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“good night,” he said, settling down into the covers and closing his eyes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun froze, unsure of what to do.  he had expected baëkhyun to simply leave, as he had obviously gotten what he had come here for.  but here he was, preparing for sleep in </span>
  <em>
    <span>his </span>
  </em>
  <span>bed.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“darling,” baëkhyun said, looking back at baekhyun, still sitting up.  “is there something wrong?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun pinched the bridge of his nose.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun didn’t want to give baëkhyun the satisfaction of knowing his flustration, however, so he quickly composed himself.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“no,” he said, voice as light as he could muster.  “nothing at all.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he scooted as far as he could away from baëkhyun and lied down, turning over away from him.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he soon felt baëkhyun’s arm snake around his waist, and his stomach against his back.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he couldn’t even </span>
  <em>
    <span>sleep</span>
  </em>
  <span> in peace—</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“baëkhyun,” baekhyun said. “personal space?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you just ate my ass,” baëkhyun mumbled against his shoulder.  “you don’t get to talk about personal space.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he did have a point.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun huffed, trying to move out of baëkhyun’s reach.  he just moved closer.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the points of contact between between them kept baekhyun wide awake, even as he heard baëkhyun’s breathing steady.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>as soon as the breaths on his shoulder became regular enough that he was sure baëkhyun was asleep, he carefully, slowly withdrew himself from under his arm and climbed over to the side of the bed.  he started toward the bathroom.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>in the dark, the reflection of a shiny object caught the corner of his eye.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>a ring of keys attached to baëkhyun’s belt on the floor.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun froze, glancing back at baëkhyun’s sleeping figure. baëkhyun was still, breathing still regular, rhythmic.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>slowly, quietly, baekhyun crouched down, beginning to detach the key ring from baëkhyun’s belt.  he winced at every clink of keys hitting each other, sounding a million times louder in the dead silence of the room as he struggled to separate the keys from the loop on the belt.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>finally, he slid the ring of keys off baëkhyun’s belt and over two of his fingers.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he cast one last glance at baëkhyun. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he tiptoed over to the door, trying each key one by one.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>click.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun hesitated.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he could run; he could escape this prison and leave baëkhyun and the rest of x-exo behind.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he looked over his shoulder once again, at baëkhyun’s peaceful figure laying in his bed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he pushed the door outward, stepping into the hallway.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>pitch-black darkness hung over the passage, making it difficult for baekhyun to make out anything with any real clarity.  he could vaguely make out other doors identical to his own lining the walls, and that immediately to his right was a dead end.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>thus, he turned to his left, walking as lightly as he could.  he shivered, and realized he still wasn’t wearing a shirt.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>too late now.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he continued down the hallway, barely breathing, every hair on his head at attention, his ears straining for any noise that would indicate the approach of a red force guard, or a member of x-exo.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the hall was dead silent.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>not sure where he was going, he randomly chose branches off the hallway to turn down, hoping that he would end up at an exit.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>after several minutes stretched into what felt like hours by nervousness, he approached an end of the passage down which he was wandering.  sighing, he started turning back.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>in the darkness, a reflection of a doorknob caught his attention.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he spun back around.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun practically ran to the door.  it had a small window in it, and pressing his face close to it, he could see trees, ground, wildlife.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>freedom.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he tried the handle. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>locked. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he bent down to the doorknob, frantically tried every key on his ring, throwing caution to the winds in order to make a real escape as quickly as he could.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he was going to be free—  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“baëkhyun? is that you?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun froze, blood stopping in his veins.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>chën. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun straightened, but continued facing the door.  the absence of a scar would give him away if chën saw his face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“yup,” he said, in the most confident voice he could muster.  “baëkhyun here. just need some air—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“turn around.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun swallowed thickly.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>slowly, he spun on his heel, hoping against hope that the darkness would conceal his lack of a scar crossing his face. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“why don’t you have a shirt on?” chën inquired, eyes narrowing.  “were you with baekhyun again? i told you, i don’t think your whole seduction strategy is going to work—” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“seduction strategy?” baekhyun interrupted, before he could stop himself.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>shit.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“ah,” chën said, dangerous smile settling across his lips.  “you’re not baëkhyun.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>stupid stupid stupid stupid—</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“sorry you had to find out this way, baekhyun,” chën laughed, indicating he didn’t actually believe in his apology.  “alas, baëkhyun has no real feelings for you—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i didn’t need </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> to tell me that,” baekhyun spat.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“struck a nerve, have i?” chën smirked.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun opened his mouth to respond, but no sound came out.  chën laughed again.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you know, if it were my choice,” chën started.  “you would be dead right now.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“th-then why am i not?” baekhyun stuttered. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>chën stepped closer.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“unfortunately, the red force needs you alive,” chën said, stopping about a foot away from baekhyun.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun stood his ground, valiantly holding eye contact.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he quietly, silently, slipped the ring of keys his pocket.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>miraculously, chën didn’t notice.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“however,” chën began again.  “you cannot go unpunished for this act of insubordination.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he pulled a heavy-looking wrist cuff, made of thick metal, out of his pocket.  unclasped, baekhyun could see that there was a small light embedded in it, glowing red.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“this will neutralize your powers.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun’s stomach dropped.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“wh- no, i don’t—” he stammered, backing away. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>his back hit the door behind him.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>inches from freedom, he had never felt less free.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you don’t have a choice,” chën replied, taking baekhyun’s wrist in his hand.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he snapped the cuff around baekhyun’s wrist.  the light turned green.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>as it clasped shut, dizziness blurred baekhyun’s vision.  as quickly as it set in, however, it vanished, leaving baekhyun facing chën once again, his back still pressed against the door behind him.   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>immediately, he tried to summon an orb, a spark, anything that would indicate that chën was bluffing, that he still had his powers—</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>nothing.  </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>in which baekhyun learns something new</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hi bros welcome back to another chapter of baekhyun is gay and also in love with himself (literally) </p><p>thanks sm for 450+ hits !!! i appreciate every single one sm every read makes me so happy it still kinda blows my mind that ppl actually read this lol</p><p>i promise there will be actual plot next chapter this reads like a pwp rn and It Is Not so ya im sure only like 2 of yall came for plot and not smut but this is for u &lt;3</p><p>hope u all r staying staying safe!! wash ur hands stay inside and enjoy ur free time !!! mwah ilu all</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>when baëkhyun walked in, chen and chën were playing a game of chess.  </p><p> </p><p>on every wall, cameras blinked at him, displaying every inch of the prison. </p><p> </p><p>“you sent for me?” baëkhyun asked, alerting the clones of his presence.  </p><p> </p><p>“we need to talk about your clone,” chen said, eyes not leaving the board in front of him.  </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun quirked an eyebrow.  </p><p> </p><p>“what about him?” he inquired.  “the plan is working perfectly.  last night he even <em> initiated </em>—” </p><p> </p><p>“yes, quite well,” chën interrupted, tone dripping sarcasm; he slid a bishop to the other side of the board, threatening chen’s queen.  “baekhyun trusts you so much he tried to escape last night.”</p><p> </p><p>this was news to baëkhyun.  </p><p> </p><p>when he had awoken in the later hours of the morning, baekhyun had been peacefully sleeping in his arms, hair mussed across his forehead, exhales rhythmic and constant, lips slightly parted—</p><p> </p><p>“baëkhyun?” chen asked.  “what do you have to say for yourself?”</p><p> </p><p>he studied the board with a furrowed brow, evidently caught off guard by chën’s attack. </p><p> </p><p>“i—” baëkhyun stammered.  “when did he- how—?”</p><p> </p><p>“i found him at the south entrance,” chën said.  “i don’t know how he got out, or how he found the exit— hell, even <em> i </em> get lost in this maze of a place— but i caught him, and gave him one of those cuffs the red force has been working on, and brought him back to his cell.” </p><p> </p><p>chen finally moved his queen out of danger, sighing dramatically. </p><p> </p><p>“you restricted his powers?” baëkhyun asked, trying to think back and remember if baekhyun had been wearing a cuff when he left him.  </p><p> </p><p>“would you rather we kill him?” chën inquired, turning away from the board before him and looking baëkhyun in the eyes.  </p><p> </p><p>“i don’t care what you do with him,” baëkhyun forced out, knowing chën was looking for cracks in his composure, anything that would suggest he was overly attached to baekhyun. </p><p> </p><p>“hmm,” chën replied, returning to the game, moving one of his pieces, nudging one of chen’s off the board.  </p><p> </p><p>“we have more important things to discuss,” chen announced. </p><p> </p><p>he stared at the game in front of him, assessing his options. </p><p> </p><p>“such as?” baëkhyun replied, reassembling his airy attitude, even as his mind was reeling. </p><p> </p><p>how had baekhyun escaped without him noticing?</p><p> </p><p>“well, first of all, you have a very large hickey,” chen quipped. </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun’s hand flew to his neck self-consciously.  the bruises felt a little sore, sensitive.  </p><p> </p><p>“anyways,” chën continued, rolling his eyes. “we’re leaving for the red cube in three days.”</p><p> </p><p>“hey, i wanted to say that,” chen whined, moving one of his pieces to an empty space.  “why do <em> you </em> always get the best lines—”</p><p> </p><p>“maybe if you weren’t so busy talking about <em> hickeys </em>—”</p><p> </p><p>“so soon?” baëkhyun interrupted.  “we haven’t even begun the sample collection process.” </p><p> </p><p>“there’s been a change of plans,” chën replied.  </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun waited for him to continue. </p><p> </p><p>“evidently, the red force has been perturbed by some <em> events </em>,” chën shot a pointed look at baëkhyun, “which have occurred surrounding the capture of exo.  so, we will be leaving on june 9.” </p><p> </p><p>“i’m assuming this is your way of asking me to prepare the prisoners for departure?” baëkhyun asked.  </p><p> </p><p>“yes,” chën replied, knocking yet another of chen’s pieces off the board. “and one more thing.”</p><p> </p><p>he turned to look at baëkhyun again, studying his face.</p><p> </p><p>“the red force has decided, for efficiency reasons,” chën began, carefully pronouncing every word. “that it is not necessary for all powers to be replicated.” </p><p> </p><p>“what does that mean?” baëkhyun asked, confused.</p><p> </p><p>“they’ve decided that fire, water, and teleportation genes are the most important to isolate and collect,” chen said, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration.  “on the day of our departure, we will only be taking suho, chanyeol and kai.” </p><p> </p><p>chen settled on advancing with his rook.  </p><p> </p><p>“what’ll happen to the others?” baëkhyun asked, afraid of the answer. </p><p> </p><p>“so as to not raise any alarm, sehun and baekhyun will stay alive for now,” chën responded, eyes glinting. “however, before we leave for the cube they will be. . . <em> disposed of </em>.”</p><p> </p><p>he paused, moving a pawn to its final position.</p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun swallowed thickly. </p><p> </p><p>chën smiled.</p><p> </p><p>“checkmate.”</p><p> </p><p>✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶</p><p> </p><p>baekhyun awoke in his cell alone.</p><p> </p><p>he rolled over.</p><p> </p><p>the spot next to him was warm. </p><p> </p><p>staring at the ceiling, he sighed.  </p><p> </p><p>he ran a hand through his hair, and the cuff on his wrist entered his field of vision, bringing back the events of the night before.  </p><p> </p><p>he groaned.  </p><p> </p><p>the door opened, and baekhyun sprung into a sitting position.  </p><p> </p><p>it was baëkhyun.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun swallowed, noticing the bruises on his clone’s neck.  he couldn’t tell if he was proud of the markings or if he was going to be sick.  </p><p> </p><p>his eyes fell to the floor.</p><p> </p><p><em> seduction strategy </em>. </p><p> </p><p>“what do you want?” baekhyun asked, morning still lingering in his voice. </p><p> </p><p>“good morning to you too,” baëkhyun replied, forcing a smirk. </p><p> </p><p><em> disposed of </em>.</p><p> </p><p>silence stretched between them.  </p><p> </p><p>“i’m not fucking you again, if that’s what you’re here for,” baekhyun said. </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun laughed.</p><p> </p><p>“oh, darling,” he replied. “you say that every time.” </p><p> </p><p>“this time i mean it,” baekhyun insisted.</p><p> </p><p>“do you?” baëkhyun inquired, tilting his head. </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun glared at him.</p><p> </p><p>“luckily for you, though, i didn’t come to fuck you,” baëkhyun started, then reconsidered. “well, not <em> just </em> to fuck you. i have news.” </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun furrowed a brow. </p><p> </p><p>“what news?” he asked. </p><p> </p><p>“red force plans. straight from chen and chën themselves,” baëkhyun responded, grinning. </p><p> </p><p>“well?” baekhyun prompted.</p><p> </p><p>“the thing is,” baëkhyun smirked. “i’m not just going give away this <em>extremely important exclusive top secret</em> <em>information. . . </em>for free.”</p><p> </p><p>baekhyun rolled his eyes. </p><p> </p><p>“i’m not going to fuck you,” baekhyun said again. “i don’t even know if you’re telling the truth.” </p><p> </p><p>“darling, you <em> know </em>when i’m lying,” baëkhyun responded, eyes glinting. “we basically have the same brain—”</p><p> </p><p>“no, we don’t,” baekhyun spat. “i’m not doing it.”</p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun looked at him, his expression unreadable.</p><p> </p><p>“oh, well,” he said, turning back to the door. “i guess you just won’t know which exo member the red force is planning on killing.”</p><p> </p><p>baekhyun’s eyes snapped up to baëkhyun’s face, searching for any indication of a bluff.  baëkhyun maintained eye contact, unwavering in his gaze.</p><p> </p><p>baekhyun stood up, slowly walking toward baëkhyun in order to more closely examine his face.  baëkhyun was right, after all, he could tell when his clone was lying.   </p><p> </p><p>his eyes raked over every inch of baëkhyun’s face in front of him, hoping against hope he could find some evidence of a lie somewhere, anywhere—</p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun’s eyes looked almost—</p><p> </p><p>sad? </p><p> </p><p>no, that couldn’t be it.  </p><p> </p><p>but he could tell baëkhyun wasn’t lying. </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun chewed his lip.  he felt the ghost of baëkhyun’s teeth on his mouth and shivered.</p><p> </p><p>if he could glean as much information as he could from baëkhyun, he could find suho’s cell with the keys he had stolen (which, miraculously, chën hadn’t noticed) and they could make an escape plan— </p><p> </p><p>no, last time was the last time. </p><p> </p><p>but an exo member’s life was at stake—</p><p> </p><p>“so?” baëkyun asked, crossing his arms. despite the pose of impatience, his tone betrayed genuine concern. </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun inhaled, looking up to stare at the ceiling. </p><p> </p><p>he internally asked forgiveness. from whom, he did not know. </p><p> </p><p>“fine,” he breathed. </p><p> </p><p>“i knew you’d come around,” baëkhyun grinned, cupping his hands around baekhyun’s face.  </p><p> </p><p>before baekhyun realized what was happening, he was pressed against the solid wood of the door behind him.  </p><p> </p><p>it was much too familiar for comfort.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun sucked in his breath, trying to draw back further, but his back was against the door. all the inhale had accomplished was breathing in baëkhyun’s sharp cologne and it was making him dizzy—</p><p> </p><p>“relax,” baëkhyun laughed, the word coming out breathy.  “i’m not going to hurt you.” </p><p> </p><p>and baekhyun knew he wouldn’t. </p><p> </p><p>he breathed out, shaky, as baëkhyun met his lips softly. even as a tiny voice in his head screamed at him that he shouldn’t be used to this, baekhyun was sinking into the familiar feeling of baekhyun’s mouth on his.  </p><p> </p><p>he felt, almost as if he was outside his body, his arms snake around baëkhyun’s neck and his fingers bury themselves in baëkhyun’s hair.  it was as if his body knew what it wanted before his mind caught on; he pulled baëkhyun closer, past his lips and into his mouth.  </p><p> </p><p>the feeling of this kiss was different from the last but baekhyun couldn’t put his finger on it.  he was too busy sucking on baëkhyun’s tongue to really care anyways.  </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun’s hands, leaving baekhyun’s waist, had begun an upward journey along his sides, then tracing his collarbones.  one hand settled in his hair, thumb brushing over baekhyun’s cheek.  the other came to rest at the base of his throat, constricting.  </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun smiled against his mouth.  </p><p> </p><p>the intermittent absence of air was making baekhyun’s mind foggy, but in a calm, static kind of way.  it helped him block out the nagging reminders of what exactly he was doing and the potential implications.  </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun’s lips travelled down his neck and baekhyun almost opened his mouth to protest at the potential of being marked but baëkhyun’s teeth on his skin felt so fucking <em> good </em> that the words never left his lips.   </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun slipped his thigh between baekhyun’s legs, grinding down against his crotch.  his knees trembled as pleasure blossomed from his core, a high whine leaving his lips.  baekhyun fought for air against the fingers at his throat as the pressure from baëkhyun’s thigh grew greater against his dick. </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun whined against his neck and baekhyun realized he had been pulling on his hair, hard,  without realizing.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun loosened his grip on the soft strands, and baëkhyun pulled away.  </p><p> </p><p>for a moment, baëkhyun’s eyes simply roved over baekhyun’s face, an almost hungry smile playing across his lips. </p><p> </p><p>“pants off,” he whispered.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun didn’t have to be told twice; baëkhyun quirked an eyebrow when baekhyun stood mere seconds later, against the wall, completely naked.  </p><p> </p><p>“and to think you didn’t want to fuck me just five minutes ago,” baëkhyun remarked, corner of his mouth quirking up.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun winced, closing his eyes to block out his very valid inhibitions.  </p><p> </p><p>it wasn’t like he was going to do it again after this, right? </p><p> </p><p>“don’t,” he breathed, and baëkhyun understood.  </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun took a step back from him, removing his jacket.  a nonchalant smile settled on his lips as he grabbed the hem of his t-shirt and pulled it over his head, slow.  too slow, baekhyun thought.  he let his eyes roam baëkhyun’s upper body unabashedly, gulping when his eyes landed on the monkshood tattoo at his hip.  </p><p> </p><p>and then baëkhyun was undoing the buckle on his belt and baekhyun’s mouth was watering and baekhyun knew baëkhyun could tell because he was moving <em> way too slow </em> and he was definitely doing it on purpose.  </p><p> </p><p>and then baëkhyun was kneeling, trailing chaste kisses down his chest as he went, and baekhyun’s dick throbbed as he realized what was about to happen.  </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun placed a kiss on the tip of baekhyun’s cock and baëkhyun’s eyes flew to the ceiling because he knew if he took in the sight of baëkhyun’s lips— <em> his </em> lips— around his own cock, he would cum on the spot.  </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun’s mouth was warm and wet and even though just the tip rested on his tongue, baekhyun had to take deep breaths to prevent himself from spilling over into baëkhyun’s mouth.  </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun’s fingers reached back to knead the flesh of his ass and baekhyun knew it would leave bruises.  his breath was coming out hard and shaky; he wanted to savor this but he was already embarrassingly close to finishing.  </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun pulled off his dick with a loud, wet <em> pop </em>.  baekhyun whined, pushing baëkhyun’s head back.  although it was impossible with his mouth full of baekhyun’s dick, baekhyun sensed a smirk from his clone as the tip hit the back of his throat.  but baëkhyun didn’t stop; baekhyun felt the delicious tightness of baëkhyun’s throat around his cock as baëkhyun swallowed it down further and he groaned, low.  </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun pulled away again, avoiding baekhyun’s desperate hands trying to stop him.  </p><p> </p><p>“darling,” he said, his voice coming out raspy.  baekhyun’s stomach flipped.  </p><p> </p><p>“fuck my face.” </p><p> </p><p>a warmth spread through baëkhyun’s abdomen; the crudeness of baëkhyun’s request made it all the more attractive.  </p><p> </p><p>“yeah?” baekhyun breathed, once he was sure he could speak coherently.  seeing baëkhyun’s face looking up at him, a small smile on his lips, gave him a sudden burst of courage.  </p><p> </p><p>“and what’s the magic word?”</p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun’s eyes narrowed.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun held his breath as baëkhyun said nothing, hoping he hadn’t made the wrong move.  they both knew that baekhyun too far gone to actually refuse to let baëkhyun suck him off, but as always, baekhyun would be baekhyun.  </p><p> </p><p>“fuck my face,” baëkhyun started again, after a few seconds.  </p><p> </p><p>“. . .please.” </p><p> </p><p>before the word had completely left his lips, baekhyun had cupped his hands around the back of baëkhyun’s head, easing his cock back into his mouth.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun started out slow, rolling his hips into baëkhyun’s mouth, relishing the tightness of his throat around his cock.  soon, though, his patience began wearing thin, the pleasure in his veins yearning to reach a peak, and any prior regard for baëkhyun’s comfort left his mind.  he was solely chasing his own high, cock pushing deeper and deeper with each consecutive thrust.  baëkhyun let out a noise somewhere between a moan and a gurgle, and the vibration almost sent baekhyun over the edge, his fingers curling tighter through baëkhyun’s hair.  </p><p> </p><p>“baëkhyun,” he moaned.  “i’m close-”</p><p> </p><p>he loosened his his grip in baëkhyun’s hair, allowing him to pull back, hips still twitching of their own accord into the wet heat of his mouth.  baëkhyun didn’t pull back, though; if it’s possible he swallowed baekhyun’s cock down further, his tongue tracing shapes along the shaft.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun groaned, low in the back of his throat, as his knees began wobbling and his eyes fluttered closed, bracing himself for his impending orgasm.  </p><p> </p><p>he came hard, bright white behind his eyelids and white noise in his ears.  baekhyun didn’t know how he remained standing; for a second he ascended beyond his surroundings, floating in static space, before being brought down again by baëkhyun testing the border between pleasure and pain as he continued to lave at the oversensitive skin.  he had to pull baëkhyun off him when it became too much, and baëkhyun simply smirked up at him, licking a last drop of cum from his bottom lip.  </p><p> </p><p>“good?” baëkhyun asked, voice gravelly.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun nodded, not trusting himself to speak.  </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun rose from his knees, and baekhyun’s eyes landed on his clone’s cock.  </p><p> </p><p>it was hard. he swallowed thickly.  </p><p> </p><p>he wondered how it would feel inside him. </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun smirked, evidently catching on to baekhyun’s train of thought.  he hooked a finger under his chin, forcing baekhyun to look into his eyes.  </p><p> </p><p>“you want me to fuck you against the wall, darling?” </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun balked; he had barely come down from one earth-shattering orgasm, and he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to survive another.  he did have a refractory period, after all.  </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun cocked an eyebrow, waiting for a response. </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun nodded tentatively.  </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun laughed. </p><p> </p><p>“i need to hear you say it,” baëkhyun said.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun opened his mouth to respond, but before any sound could leave his lips, baëkhyun wrapped his fingers around his cock, and twisted hard.  baekhyun’s knees buckled and his skin burned with oversensitivity; he cried out, gurgling incoherently.  </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun smiled.  </p><p> </p><p>“now, that wasn’t a word,” he remarked. </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun glared at him, breathing heavy. </p><p> </p><p>“try again,” baëkhyun grinned. </p><p> </p><p>“fuck me,” baekhyun said, forcing the words out of his mouth as quickly as possible.  </p><p> </p><p>“now. please,” he added, as it became evident that baëkhyun was leaving baekhyun’s dick alone.  </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun curled his hands behind baekhyun’s thighs, coaxing him to wrap them around his waist.  baekhyun complied; hopping up into baëkhyun’s arms.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun felt the tip of baëkhyun’s dick against his entrance and he inhaled sharply; his fingers dug into baëkhyun’s shoulders for support and his head fell back against the door.  </p><p> </p><p>in a movement so smooth it was absurdly attractive, baëkhyun pushed into him, perfectly hitting his prostate.  the stretch was bordering on the wrong side of painful (baëkhyun had evidently been so eager he had forgotten lubrication); he hadn’t even been fingered open.  he was exhausted and it <em> hurt </em>and he practically whimpered into baëkhyun’s shoulder but he didn’t stop.  </p><p> </p><p>after a few well-angled thrusts from baëkhyun it became more comfortable; the combination of pain and pleasure making his legs tremble.  baëkhyun somehow managed to shift his hands up to baekhyun’s ass, digging his fingers into the flesh and using it as leverage for each successive thrust.  baekhyun keened; it was too much all at once and all of his senses were heightened by oversensitivity.  he could already feel a second orgasm building.</p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun slowed down his rhythm, leaning forward to trail kisses down baekhyun’s neck.  how baëkhyun could concentrate on fucking him and kneading his ass<em> and </em> leaving hickeys down his neck all at the same time baekhyun had no idea; he could barely remember to breathe.  </p><p> </p><p>he hoped to god he didn’t share a wall with any of his fellow exo members because the sounds leaving his lips were beyond obscene—</p><p> </p><p>a particularly well-aimed thrust from baëkhyun and his mind went blank, white-hot pleasure creeping into his veins.  in that moment it was debatable whether baekhyun could remember even his own name.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun’s thighs clenched around baëkhyun’s waist as pleasure continued building within him. baëkhyun removed one hand from his ass to grasp baekhyun’s cock, painfully hard and still sensitive between their stomachs, and before he even really had a chance to start jerking him off baekhyun was gone; he came somehow harder than before, seeing stars flashing under his eyelids as his pleasure reached a peak and spilled over.  it wasn’t until several moments later that he realized from the wetness down his leg that baëkhyun had come too.  </p><p> </p><p>their heavy breaths filled the room.  baëkhyun’s head had fallen forward against the wall above baekhyun’s shoulder.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun realized that baëkhyun’s arms were shaking and he maneuvered out and off of him, almost stumbling as he put too much weight too fast onto his still-shaking legs. </p><p> </p><p>“fuck,” baëkhyun breathed.  </p><p> </p><p>fuck was right. </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun waited for the weight of the situation to hit him, for the guilt and shame to clear the foggy satisfaction of his post-coital daze.  </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun’s face came into focus in front of him and his lips were on baekhyun’s again, languid, like he had all the time in the world.  baekhyun captured baëkhyun’s bottom lip between his teeth, rewarded with an airy exhale.  instead of fighting for control they simply savored the taste of each other, the familiarity a comfort.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun’s lungs burned but he didn’t want to pull away; he traced over baëkhyun’s jawline with his thumbs, hands on either side of his face, holding baëkhyun to his mouth. </p><p> </p><p>finally, baëkhyun pulled back for air, panting.  </p><p> </p><p>“sehun,” he breathed.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun felt like he had been punched.</p><p> </p><p>“i’m not sehun,” he began.  “have you been fucking him, too?” </p><p> </p><p>he tried to keep his tone airy, as if he didn’t really care. </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun shook his head.</p><p> </p><p>“no,” he replied, voice still broken.  baekhyun tried to ignore the relief that flooded his veins.  </p><p> </p><p>“sehun is who the red force is going to kill.”</p><p> </p><p>baekhyun felt like the floor had been swept out from under him; his stomach plummeted, both at the fact that he had forgotten the reason he agreed to fuck baëkhyun in the first place and the fact that sehun was going to. . . sehun, his friend, practically his <em> brother </em>. . . </p><p> </p><p>he blinked back tears, refusing to let baëkhyun witness this moment of vulnerability.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun felt a hand on his shoulder and he shrugged it off, picking his clothes off the floor and pushing past baëkhyun to the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.  </p><p> </p><p>he dropped his clothes to the counter as he leaned over the sink, letting tears fall down his face. </p><p> </p><p>he lifted his head to look at his reflection in the mirror, his hair mussed and his cheeks flushed and his nose tinged red. </p><p> </p><p>he looked small, pathetic. </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun wiped his face and grabbed a towel, cleaning himself off and slipping back into his pants and shirt.  by the time he walked back out after one last check in the mirror to make sure he didn’t look like he had been crying, soreness had already settled in, every step accompanied by a wince. </p><p> </p><p>when he walked out of the bathroom, baëkhyun was still there.  baekhyun wordlessly threw him a towel and he caught it, beginning the process of redressing himself.  </p><p> </p><p>“i’m sorry,” baëkhyun said, breaking the rather awkward silence.  </p><p> </p><p>“no, you’re not,” baekhyun shot back, still refusing to make eye contact.  </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun said nothing as he pulled his pants over his thighs.  </p><p> </p><p>he turned to baekhyun once he was fully dressed.  </p><p> </p><p>“i have to go,” he said quietly.  </p><p> </p><p>“good,” baekhyun replied, staring resolutely at a nondescript part of the wall.  </p><p> </p><p>when baëkhyun didn’t move, he glanced tentatively in his direction.  </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun’s eyes were sad.  </p><p> </p><p>and baekhyun could tell something was on the tip on his clone’s tongue, something else he wanted to tell him. </p><p> </p><p>“well?” baekhyun snapped.  “are you going?”</p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun turned, reaching for the keys on his belt.  his fingers closed on empty air. </p><p> </p><p>“baekhyun,” he said, an edge to his voice. </p><p> </p><p>“what?” baekhyun replied, feigning innocence. </p><p> </p><p>but his eyes had flicked to the dresser, betraying him.  baëkhyun sighed, opening the drawer and fishing for the keys.  a jingle indicated that he had found them. </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun chewed on his lip, realizing that now he had no way of telling suho his information.  </p><p> </p><p>sehun would never know—</p><p> </p><p>“we leave for the red cube in three days,” baëkhyun said quietly, and with that, he spun on his heel and vanished out the door.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun let the tears fall down his cheeks.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>all ur kudos hits bookmarks make me so so happy thank uuuuu i know i just keep saying thank u and i love u all but thank u and i love u all !!!!! </p><p>not to be that bitch but pls comment i want attention and i need feedback to feel validated mwah &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>in which baekhyun hesitates</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hi bros we back !!! sorry this chap took a lil longer miss rona be killing my motivation also this chapter kinda long so ya !! </p><p>as always i hope u guys r staying safe and healthy !!!! mwah mwah mwah </p><p>also follow me on twt @markbaeks !!! mwah</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>after several hours of fitful sleep, baekhyun awoke to the hairs on the back of his neck prickling.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>it was night again; silence hung heavy in the air.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he sat up.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he tried to summon light out of habit before remembering that he was powerless.  his hand fell back to the blankets.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>a dark silhouette stood near the door.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun rubbed his eyes.  the figure was still there.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“baëkhyun?” he asked the darkness.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“why would i be baëkhyun?” a familiar, honey-coated voice replied to him.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun realized then that it couldn’t have been baëkhyun; the figure was much too tall and angular to be the delicate silhouette of his clone.  the figure loomed in the shadows in a way that baëkhyun’s slight, wiry frame was physically incapable of. the figure was overtly muscular, radiating physical strength, while baëkhyun possessed understated energy invisible to the naked eye.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“kai,” baekhyun breathed.  “is that really you?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>as baekhyun’s eyes adjusted, he could make out kai’s eager grin.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i finally figured out how to teleport in here,” kai replied, his smile curling up the pitch of his voice.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>kai’s excitement was contagious; baekhyun couldn’t help but allow the corners of his mouth to quirk up.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“are you okay? have you seen the others? is everyone still alive?” baekhyun asked, questions spilling from his mouth.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“yes, i’m fine, yes i’ve seen the others, and yes, everyone’s alive,” kai laughed, walking towards baekhyun’s bed and grabbing his hands, his fingers slipping between baekhyun’s comfortably.   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>as soon as their hands touched, the floor seemed to plummet out from under them and the walls began to spin.  a few seconds of whirling colors later, he was standing on solid ground again, stumbling as dizziness overtook his balance.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>before he could begin to make out his surroundings several bodies were engulfing his frame and excited voices clamored in his ears.  baekhyun smiled, happy to be back in exo’s chaotic embrace.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>they pulled apart and he made out the faces of sehun, suho and chanyeol looking back at him with the same incredulity and relief he was sure was mirrored in his own expression.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>at the sight of sehun, his breath caught in his throat.  he blinked away pinpricks in the back of his eyes, turning to suho.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i have information about the red force,” baekhyun said.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“straight to business, i see,” suho chuckled.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“yeah, </span>
  <em>
    <span>some kind</span>
  </em>
  <span> of business,” chanyeol muttered, staring pointedly at the hickeys along baekhyun’s neck.  baekhyun rolled his eyes but ignored him.    </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“x-exo are taking us to the red cube in three days,” baekhyun said, ignoring chanyeol.  “so we need to escape before then.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“it would be easier to escape while we’re actually on our way to the red cube, wouldn’t it?” sehun asked.  “jumping out of a truck has got to be easier than escaping from this prison.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“no,” baekhyun said, eyes falling to the ground.  “that’ll be too late.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he stopped to take a breath.  the rest of exo waited for him to continue.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“the red force is going to kill sehun before we leave,” baekhyun said.  “i’m not sure exactly when, but to be safe, we should leave as soon as possible.”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>silence fell over the room.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“just sehun?” suho asked, after several seconds.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“yeah,” baekhyun replied softly, eyes still on the floor.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“so,” sehun said, speaking for the first time that evening.  “we’ll just make sure we escape before those three days are up and i’ll be fine, right?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“it’s fine,” he repeated after a few seconds of heavy silence, more for himself than for the others.  he managed a small smile. “so what’s the plan?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>suho opened his mouth to speak, but chanyeol beat him to it.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“and how did you find this out, exactly?” chanyeol asked, eyes narrowing.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun winced.  he had hoped he wouldn’t be asked that.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“uh,” he began. “baëkhyun told me.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“oh, is that so?” chanyeol replied.  “and you trust him enough to believe it’s true? what if this is a trap?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“we’re in </span>
  <em>
    <span>prison</span>
  </em>
  <span>, chanyeol, he doesn’t need to trap us,” baekhyun said exasperatedly.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“he has a point, though,” suho interrupted.  “how do you know baëkhyun is telling the truth?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>because</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” baekhyun replied, as if this was common sense.  “he’s my </span>
  <em>
    <span>clone</span>
  </em>
  <span>.  i can just tell.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>chanyeol scoffed, rolling his eyes.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“baekhyun,” suho said. “it doesn’t seem like baëkhyun to just give you red force secrets.  what aren’t you telling us?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun exhaled slowly, trying to formulate the least incriminating way to say that taken baëkhyun’s dick up his ass in return for information.   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“well,” baekhyun began.  “look, before i say anything i just want to make sure it’s clear that my loyalty is always with exo and i’m definitely </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> proud of this but i think that it was. . . not good that i did it, exactly. . . but i think for the safety of </span>
  <em>
    <span>all </span>
  </em>
  <span>of us—” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“baekhyun,” suho interrupted, voice calm.  “just tell us.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“we fucked again, ok?” baekhyun said, a defensive edge to his voice.  “it’s not any of you haven’t fucked your clones—” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i haven’t,” chanyeol muttered.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“—but sehun could have </span>
  <em>
    <span>died</span>
  </em>
  <span> if i didn’t get baëkhyun to tell me.  i mean, it has to be worth it—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>worth it</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” chanyeol spluttered.  “are you kidding?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“just because </span>
  <em>
    <span>your </span>
  </em>
  <span>clone won’t fuck you—” baekhyun shot back, annoyance with chanyeol rising.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“enough!” suho interrupted.  “we can’t fight with each other in a time like this!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>kai cleared his throat.  he hadn’t said anything during this discussion, but baekhyun now noticed that he had been staring at the cuff on his wrist. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“what is that?” kai asked.  “none of us have those.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun’s fingers fidgeted with the clasp.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“it takes away my powers,” he said quietly, avoiding eye contact.  “chën found me trying to escape and he—” </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“you tried to escape </span>
  <em>
    <span>without us</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” chanyeol asked, voice incredulous.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i had no idea where you guys were!” baekhyun replied, voice rising again. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“baekhyun, i know you mean well, but i think you know how this looks,” suho asked, disappointment in his voice. “no matter your intentions, fraternizing with x-exo and trying to escape without us isn’t exactly trustworthy behavior.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i’m sorry,” baekhyun said quietly.  he couldn’t bring himself to look exo in the eyes.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>suho’s lips were pressed into a thin line, assessing the situation. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i think we should consider the information that baëkhyun gave as truth,” suho said.  at baekhyun’s relieved expression and chanyeol’s open mouth threatening outburst, he held a hand up, stopping them both.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“however,” suho turned to baekhyun, sadness in his gaze.  “we have to take adequate precaution if this plan is to work.  given what you’ve told us, baekhyun, i think it’ s safer if you’re not here while we discuss how we’re going to get out of here.  so, kai, can you take baekhyun back to his cell while the rest of us discuss strategy?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun felt as though he had been slapped.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“but i could help you,” he started.  “i’ve found an exit, i could probably find my way back—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“baekhyun, it’s final,” suho cut him off.  “we’re making sure you’re with us when we leave.  it’s more than you did for us.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun, unable to respond, simply nodded his head and silently accepted the hand that kai held out to him.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>if baekhyun awoke </span>
  <em>
    <span>one more time</span>
  </em>
  <span> to unannounced figures in his cell in the middle of the night he was going to lose his mind. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>it was the next night.  baekhyun had spent the day pacing his cell, constantly on edge.  not knowing what both exo or x-exo were doing was making him anxious.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he hadn’t seen baëkhyun since he had told him the red force plans.  baekhyun tried not to wonder why.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“it’s time to go,” kai whispered from the darkness.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun sprang out of bed, already fully dressed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“what’s the plan?” he whispered back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i can’t tell you everything,” kai said apologetically.  “but it was definitely more difficult than we thought. there’s some sort of barrier which keeps me from teleporting outside of this prison, so we had to find an exit the old fashioned way.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“what do you need me to do?” baekhyun asked.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“well, you’re not very useful without your powers,” kai said.  his eyes widened as he realized what he said. “sorry, i didn’t mean it like that—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“it’s ok,” baekhyun said, his heart sinking.  “let’s just go meet the others.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>a few seconds later, baekhyun and kai were out in the hallway, along with sehun, chanyeol and suho.  nervous tension was palpable in the air.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“let’s go,” suho whispered.  in the dead silence of the hall, even their breaths were deafening.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>they started down the hallway, suho in the lead and the rest following.  their footsteps echoed eerily. the white walls reflecting the darkness of the hall created an almost foggy atmosphere.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>it seemed to baekhyun that they were following the same strategy that he had tried the first night he had escaped his cell, randomly choosing passages to go down.  baekhyun made no comment, but mused that perhaps his input would actually been </span>
  <em>
    <span>helpful</span>
  </em>
  <span>, unlike </span>
  <em>
    <span>someone’s </span>
  </em>
  <span>(cough chanyeol’s) snarky comments—</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>just then, he ran into sehun’s broad back.  suho, in front of them all, had stopped in his tracks. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“what’s going on?” baekhyun asked, trying to see over sehun’s much taller frame.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>suho shushed him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun pushed past sehun, searching the hallway for what had stopped them.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>a woman-like figure, dressed in all white, a bright red visor covering her face, approached them.  by the stilted gait and unnatural speed (she was advancing quite a bit faster than a person should be able to walk) baekhyun suspected it was some sort of robotic guard.  in any case, he hadn’t encountered anything of the sort when he had found an exit a couple nights before. with </span>
  <em>
    <span>his help</span>
  </em>
  <span>, maybe this could have been avoided.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“what do we do?” kai asked, fear making his words lilt higher pitched.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>suho looked behind them.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“if we run, we could get lost,” suho said, almost as if talking to himself.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the robot lady continued towards them.  the tension in the air rose with every step she took towards them.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>when she reached about ten feet from where they stood, kai ran in front of the group and held his hand out in front of him in the universal “stop” gesture.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“stop,” kai said, and baekhyun noticed he had intentionally made his voice sound deeper than it naturally was. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the robot woman continued towards them.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun could practically see kai’s nervousness return, his shoulders retracting into himself, giving the illusion of shrinking.   however, instead of simply standing there, his feet began to move and his arms began to swing in rhythmic motions, at first tentative, but gaining confidence with every second.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>poor kai.  dancing was a sort of nervous habit, when he didn’t know what else to do with his long limbs.  however, baekhyun thought his form wasn’t bad. he himself could probably do better; he, in his own humble opinion,  had always been more talented than kai when it came to dancing.    </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“what are you </span>
  <em>
    <span>doing</span>
  </em>
  <span>!” suho hissed, holding out his arms to block any of the others from running to join kai.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>inexplicably, the robot lady stopped in her tracks.  kai kept dancing. he even added some flourishes, boy band-esque hip thrusts and spins on the ball of his foot.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“don’t make fun of me, it’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>working</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” kai shot back, a grin working its way into his voice.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the rest of exo held their breaths.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the robot lady collapsed to the ground.  her head exploded.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>kai stopped dancing.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>before exo could properly process what happened, a shrill alarm sounded through the building, red ceiling lights flashing.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“run!” suho said, taking the lead once again and pushing past the dead robot (could a robot really be dead?).  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the rest of exo followed closely behind him, following him around corners and down hallways as quickly as they could.  they encountered a few more of the robot guards, but kai took care of them with ease, fully enjoying himself. his wide grin made baekhyun almost forget to be afraid of being ambushed by members of x-exo.  or one member of x-exo in particular.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>suho stopped to catch his breath at a corner, hands on his knees.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“the exit is down there,” he panted, gesturing around the corner.  “chanyeol, i’m going to need your help.”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>suho turned to baekhyun.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“stay right here,” he said.  “look out for members of x-exo and warn us, ok? the rest of you, with me.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he, chanyeol, sehun and kai all walked around the corner.  how suho knew where the exit was, baekhyun didn’t know. maybe he and kai had managed to map out the prison while he sat in his cell, untapped helpfulness remaining untapped.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he was relieved to be so close to freedom, of course.   but he was still resentful of the fact that exo had managed it without him.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the alarm still rung high in his ears.  baekhyun could feel a headache forming.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the sound of a footstep from down the passage and his heart leapt in his throat.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>his head whipped in the direction of the sound, trying to see who it was between the flashing lights.   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>but he already knew. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>in fact, he could pinpoint baëkhyun’s relative location with a fair level of accuracy.  he knew that he would round the corner in about five seconds. he knew it would take it another ten to be within seeing distance.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and he knew that wasn’t enough time for exo to get out of that door.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“guys,” baekhyun hissed, as quietly as he could, down the passage where exo were struggling to get past the lock on the door.  “x-exo are coming.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“distract them,” suho whispered back.  “we’ll yell for you when we have this done.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun didn’t like that idea at all.  in fact, he felt like it was very easy for him to get left behind and forgotten. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun wondered if he willed himself hard enough he could just blend into the wall and baëkhyun would just walk right past him.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the seconds waiting for baëkhyun to round the corner passed by much too quickly; baekhyun didn’t have nearly enough time to perfect his method of dissolving into the wall.  preoccupied as he had with becoming a chameleon, baekhyun realized, as his eyes met baëkhyun’s, he hadn’t spared any thought for how exactly he was going to distract his clone.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>luckily, by his wide eyes and confused expression, baekhyun knew his appearance had taken baëkhyun off guard.  and so, baekhyun did the only logical thing he could do in this situation.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun grabbed baëkhyun by the front of his jacket, pressed him against the wall behind him, and kissed him, hard.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the adrenaline running through baekhyun’s system heightened his senses; he could feel baëkhyun’s pulse in his bottom lip, his surprised exhale on his cheek, his heartbeat against his chest.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>it occurred to him that this could be the last time he ever kissed baëkhyun.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he licked past baëkhyun’s lips, slowly, trying to commit every corner of his mouth to memory.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun’s hands toyed with the hem of baekhyun’s shirt, but thankfully baekhyun possessed enough presence of mind not to let him take it off.  part of him wished he could.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun tangled his fingers tightly in baëkhyun’s hair.  maybe by holding baëkhyun to his lips he could hold time still.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“baekhyun!” a voice called from behind them.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun hesitated. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he needed to go. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he wanted to stay.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun pulled away, craning his neck to look past baekhyun down the passage where exo were breaking out.  if it wasn’t for baekhyun’s protectiveness of exo, he may never have leapt into action.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>he realized couldn't stay, no matter how much he wanted to.  he belonged with exo.  he didn't belong with <span>baëkhyun. </span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he winced as he kneed baëkhyun hard in the groin. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i’m sorry,” baekhyun whispered as his clone doubled over with a pained grunt. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and then he ran.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>suho was waiting just outside the door, yelling at him to hurry and that he had to come quickly and that they didn’t have much time and that someone was right behind him.  he could still feel the ghost of baëkhyun’s lips on his and for some reason his eyes were wet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he could make out the distant figures of sehun, kai and chanyeol, hands interlocked, obviously waiting for baekhyun to come so that kai could teleport them away.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>they were free.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>as baekhyun’s foot crossed the threshold, suho began running too, just beside him.  sehun and chanyeol reached their hands out for baekhyun and suho to grab.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>they were ten feet away.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>seven. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>five.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>two. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and baekhyun latched onto sehun’s hand as tight as he could, already feeling the ground vanish beneath him.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>a split second later he was stumbling on asphalt, in front of a large warehouse, painted black.  across the top in spraypainted white box print were the letters “nct”.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“nct headquarters?” baekhyun asked.  “why are we here?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“we’re regrouping here and then setting off to district L160609 for kyungsoo, minseok and yixing,” suho said, smiling at baekhyun.  “the fact that we escaped shows that you really were loyal to exo. i’m sorry for doubting you.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun remembered his hesitation to leave and guilt rose as bile in the back of his throat.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“don’t mention it,” was all he said, breaking eye contact.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>they followed suho around the back of the building, where they found a black door almost indistinguishable from the rest of the wall.   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>suho knocked it one time and paused, then knocked two more times quickly.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>from the other side of the door, seven responding knocks.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>suho pressed his mouth to the small crack between the door and the wall.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“we are one,” he said softly.  “exo.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>they could hear the sound of several locks on the inside being undone, and the door swung open.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>a tall, gangly boy stood behind the door, blinking at them.  he didn’t say anything, nor make any move to let them in. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“are you a new recruit?” suho asked.  “i’m afraid i don’t recognize you.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i don’t recognize you either,” the boy said, crossing his arms.  he was rolling a lollipop stick between his teeth like a cigarette.  he had large eyes, and mousy blonde hair swept down over his forehead.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“ah,” suho said, awkwardly.  “can you take me to taeyong? i have some things to discuss with him.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“he’s not here right now,” the boy said, still standing stubbornly in the doorway.   baekhyun noticed there were brightly colored tapes around the knuckles of his fingers.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“jisung?” a voice called from behind the boy.  “is there someone there?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>in an instant the boy’s demeanor changed.  he straightened and removed the stick from his mouth, throwing it to the ground.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“yeah,” the boy, evidently named jisung, yelled behind him.  “exo’s here and suho needs to talk to taeyong.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i thought you didn’t recognize me,” suho said.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>jisung turned back and winked at them before scampering behind the door, to be replaced by a tall man with floppy brown hair.  he was wearing a black pants and a black leather vest with nothing beneath it. baekhyun made a mental note to ask him for his ab routine because </span>
  <em>
    <span>damn</span>
  </em>
  <span>.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“suho,” the man smiled, running a hand through his hair.  “what’s good, bro?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“johnny,” suho replied. “it’s good to see you.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you boys are a sight for sore eyes,” johnny remarked, eyes glancing over the rest of exo.  “why don’t you come in and let us know what we can help you with?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>johnny stepped back from the door and gestured for exo to walk through.  baekhyun had never actually been inside of the nct headquarters, although he had encountered several of the members on different missions.  as he walked through the hallways, walls painted black, he tried to peer past open doors along the hallway for mark lee, who he had a particular soft spot for.   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>a boy popped his head out of a doorway suddenly, nodding to exo before turning his attention to johnny.   </span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>“jeno is being a pain in the ass again,” the boy whined, chesnut brown hair falling over his eyes.  “ever since taeyong took him on a “</span><em><span>real mission</span></em><span>”</span> <span>he won’t shut the fuck up about it and it’s not like it was even that dangerous and he only went because winwin was out with a broken arm which wasn’t even </span><em><span>that bad—</span></em><span>” </span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“jaemin,” johnny said interrupted.  “remember what i said last time?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“he </span>
  <em>
    <span>doesn’t </span>
  </em>
  <span>have a crush on me, he </span>
  <em>
    <span>hates me</span>
  </em>
  <span>, johnny—” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“god, i cannot wait until these boys finish puberty,” johnny sighed, continuing down the hallway.  as they passed the open door, baekhyun saw several other boys, around the same ages as jaemin and jisung, lounging around the room.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“who was that?” suho asked.  “i don’t recognize him or the boy that was at the door.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“oh, jaemin and jisung? we’re keeping them and a few other boys as prisoners for ransom, you know the drill,” johnny replied.  when he saw suho’s look of surprise, he laughed. “i’m just kidding. they’re just some stray kids we found on various missions, either from nonexistent homes or not very good ones, so we’re giving them a family.  and training them to be criminals in the process, of course.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun snorted.  suho laughed, a little awkwardly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>johnny led them to a spacious room with a high ceiling, which contained a very large round table.  although there were at least twenty chairs around it, only two were occupied. baekhyun recognized the two men as taeyong and doyoung; they were hunched over some papers, deep in discussion.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>taeyong looked up as they entered.  his face, strikingly handsome, softened into a smile as his eyes landed on the group.  he had dyed his hair red since baekhyun had last saw him. it suited him, baekhyun mused, although he couldn’t think of a hair color that</span> <span>taeyong </span><em><span>wouldn’t </span></em><span>manage to pull off. </span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“suho,” taeyong said, spreading his arms to invite him into a hug.  “what can we do for you?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“we’re going to need transportation to district L160609, as well as weapons and supplies,” suho replied, already sinking into a chair beside taeyong.  he nodded to doyoung.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“district L160609. . .” taeyong said aloud, tapping his fingers on the table.  he turned to doyoung. “can we get mark and jungwoo in here?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>doyoung nodded in acknowledgement, and left the room.  baekhyun always felt nervous around doyoung, as though he was being silently judged.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>johnny took a seat in a chair near, but not immediately next to, taeyong and suho.  the rest of exo followed, and baekhyun ended up between suho and johnny.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“. . . and then we spent a few days in this prison run by the red force,” suho was saying to taeyong, evidently explaining what had happened to them.  “but luckily kai can teleport, as you know, and we were able to regroup and escape. there were a couple of close calls but—” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“wait, wait, wait,” taeyong interrupted.  “the red force made clones? how do i know you’re not. . . what did you call them? x-exo?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>suho whispered something in taeyong’s ear, and he reddened, clearing his throat.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“right,” taeyong said.  “continue.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun looked between the two men, confused as to what just happened.  suho noticed and subtly shook his head, discouraging him from asking questions.  baekhyun rolled his eyes and slumped back in his chair. he was being left out </span>
  <em>
    <span>again</span>
  </em>
  <span>.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“before this whole thing happened, we were separated from kyungsoo, minseok, and yixing,” suho continued.  “we have to get back to L160609, where we’re supposed to meet back up with them.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>taeyong nodded.  “and that’s where we come in.  well, L160609 has grown more dangerous recently, and you’re going to raise some eyebrows looking like you do right now.  luckily for you, yuta, ten and haechan can take care of you as far as appearances. winwin can spare a van, possibly. . .” he trailed off as doyoung reentered with mark and jungwoo.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun sat up in his chair, smiling at mark.  as soon as he made eye contact with the younger man, mark beamed, practically running to throw his arms around baekhyun.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun chuckled, ruffling mark’s hair.  mark pulled away, looking baekhyun up and down, bouncing with excitement.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“dude, you look </span>
  <em>
    <span>good</span>
  </em>
  <span>, have you been working out?” mark asked, eyes wide.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun laughed, hitting mark’s arm playfully.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“yoooo,” mark continued, eyes landing on the hickeys still visible on baekhyun’s neck.  a grin split his face. “bro! you getting dick? or pussy? i don't wanna assume<em>—"</em> </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun’s laugh came out forced.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“uh, well, it’s complicated—” baekhyun stammered, heat rising in his cheeks.  behind him, he could hear chanyeol make a scoffing noise in his throat.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“mark,” taeyong said.  “concentrate, please?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>mark immediately straightened, the excited, bubbly demeanor calming into seriousness and focus.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>mark joined taeyong, jungwoo, and suho as they bent their heads over a map, determining the best route to get to L160609.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun sighed, once again not part of the conversation.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>doyoung leaned on the table between johnny and baekhyun.  he said something to johnny in a hushed voice; baekhyun caught something about informants and an incoming shipment but wasn’t paying enough attention to understand what they were talking about. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“so,” doyoung said, clearing his throat and turning to baekhyun.  “what’s suho not telling us?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“excuse me?” baekhyun replied, confused.  “he told you everything—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“how come during all this business with x-exo you somehow found time to get yourself those hickeys?” doyoung interrupted, eyes narrowing.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i know you mean well,” baekhyun forced out, trying to keep his tone civil.  “but it’s frankly none of your business.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“doyoung, not everyone has unresolved sexual tension with their right-hand man that they refuse to acknowledge,” johnny laughed.  "some people actually act on their impulses and get action.  leave baekhyun alone.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>doyoung shot johnny a dirty look then huffed, walking away.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun wasn’t able to talk to mark again until dinner, where all twenty one (he hadn’t counted, taeyong had told him with a tired edge to his voice) nct members gathered to eat a meal cooked by a boy named haechan, who mark kept glancing sideways at, thinking he was being discreet (he wasn’t).  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun had barely sat down when mark plopped down into the seat next to him, already talking a mile a minute.  baekhyun smiled to himself. mark was a lot, but he had missed him.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“so,” mark started, between mouthfuls of food.  “you never told me about your special lady. . . or guy.  person. special person.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“like i said, it’s complicated,” baekhyun responded, taking a long sip of water.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“come on,” mark said, dragging out the last syllable line a whine.  “i’m your best bro. you can tell me anything!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“so what’s the deal with haechan, then?” baekhyun countered, laughing when mark choked on his water.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“what?” mark asked, voice light but forced.  “what about haechan?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun cocked an eyebrow.  mark sighed, defeated.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“it’s really nothing,” mark said, but he was contradicting himself by looking at haechan longingly across the table.  “just because he’s pretty and i go out of my way to spend time with him doesn’t mean i have a crush on him or anything.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“hmm,” baekhyun hummed, knowing smile on his lips.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“okay, i told you about haechan, now you have to tell me about your mystery man. or woman,” mark said, turning back to face baekhyun.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“it’s a guy,” baekhyun said with a chuckle, wanting to save mark further confusion. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“and?” mark prompted.  baekhyun couldn’t help but smile.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun sighed, but mark’s sparkling eyes and eager grin made it impossible for him not to respond.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i guess you could say it was a business transaction,” baekhyun said, and mark’s eyes widened even more than he thought possible.  “i fucked him in exchange for information.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>who</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” mark breathed, completely enraptured in baekhyun’s response.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun leaned forward dramatically.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“he's from x-exo,” he whispered, and mark gasped, right on cue.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>no</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” mark breathed, his face the very picture of incredulity.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“oh, yes,” baekhyun replied, voice still low.  “my clone.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“bro,” mark said.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun nodded in agreement, taking a long sip of his water.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“so there were no. . . feelings involved, then?” mark asked.  baekhyun almost choked on his drink.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>no</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” baekhyun responded vehemently, shaking his head.  “he hates me, i hate him. god, mark, i can’t believe you actually asked me that.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you never know,” mark replied, one corner of his both curling upward. “i mean if there’s one person who’d be most likely to end up with their own clone, you’d make the list.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“what’s that supposed to mean?” baekhyun asked. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>mark just laughed.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun went to sleep that night uneasy.  </span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>tysm for reading as always i appreciate every single hit kudos comment bookmark SO MUCH it literally makes my day !!!</p><p>pls leave a comment i love hearing feedback esp since we have the start of an actual plot now !!! or u can yell at me on twt (@markbaeks) &lt;3</p><p>ok stay safe stay healthy wash ur hands stay inside !!! luv u all &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>in which baekhyun wishes</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hi bros i'm back finally!! unfortunately i think not updating super quick is just gonna be a fact of life for a while... i'm trying my best writing as much as i can over the weekends and random times i have during the week but school rly be kicking my ass !! sorry about that but i'm gonna keep it between 2-3 weeks!! i will not be keeping u guys waiting too long bc i love u too much &lt;3</p><p>also thank u for 800+ hits that number feels unreal i love each and every one of u so much !!!!!!! </p><p>and with that, enjoy :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>there was a weight on top of baekhyun, hands in his hair and heavy breath in his ear.  lips were on his neck just below his jaw and a thigh slipped between his legs.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun tried to open his mouth to ask who it was, but before he could, lips were on his, silencing him.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun’s fingers scrabbled around the back of the person’s head, trying to determine by touch who it could be.  the kiss was suffocating, pulling his heart out through his mouth.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the person pulled away.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>bright white hair and a glittering chain and a smirk.  </span>
  <em>
    <span>the </span>
  </em>
  <span>smirk.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun gulped.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun laughed, but it sounded tinny, faraway; like his voice was recorded and played from a speaker across the room.  and although baëkhyun’s face was near his own, it was blurry around the edges, and the brightness of his hair distorted the light around his head like a halo.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun wanted to pull him closer, into his mouth.  inside him, period. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>but his limbs weren’t responding.  he was frozen, waiting for baëkhyun’s face to come fully into focus.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and then he was there, so close their noses were almost touching.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>now he could see baëkhyun’s face in vivid detail, down to his pores and individual eyelashes.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“see you tonight, darling,” baëkhyun said, his voice crisp and clear.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun awoke with a start.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he was sitting in the back of a  van, next to the rear window.  his cheek peeled away from the glass as he raised his head.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>exo were on their way to L160609.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the sky was a weak blue, still tinged pink with sunrise.  it had been about six hours since they had left nct headquarters.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>mark had hugged him goodbye and told him maybe baekhyun should just focus on himself for a little while and a good guy (or girl) would just come to him, “you know, like all that law of attraction stuff.”  baekhyun responded that focusing on himself. . . well, that kind of was the problem, wasn’t it? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun caught a faint reflection of himself in the car window.  he did a double take— he barely looked like himself. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>yuta had helped him dye his hair black, which apparently was the style of the district.  haechan had pierced his ears in several places, stringing thin chains through the holes so they dangled along the length of his ear.  he had tried to pierce his lip as well, but baekhyun insisted that he be given a fake one instead.  even that pinched his lip painfully and he wanted to do away with it altogether but haechan had insisted it was necessary.  baekhyun honestly didn’t know what mark saw in this boy.  ten had shown him tattoo designs and tried to pull him under the needle but baekhyun had shrugged it off with a “next time” that he didn’t really mean.  haechan had also smudged dark kohl around his eyes, making them stand in stark contrast to the paleness of the rest of his face.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun looked away from the window before he could start feeling sick to his stomach.  he saw more baëkhyun in his reflection than himself. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>taeyong had told them they should reach L160609 the following evening, which now was about twelve hours away.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>tonight.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>see you tonight, darling.</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“oh no,” baekhyun said out loud.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“what is it?” suho said from the driver’s seat.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“we have to- we can’t-” baekhyun stammered, his brain still trying to shake off sleep.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“what?” suho asked.  “what are you saying?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“it’s a trap,” baekhyun said.  “x-exo- my dream—” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you had a nightmare?” suho asked.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun took a deep breath to calm his mind.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i think x-exo are going to be at L160609,” he said.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“baekhyun, we can’t just turn around because you had a dream,” suho said.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“can we please just be careful?” baekhyun asked.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“baekhyun, we’re always careful,” suho said.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>they kept driving.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>they arrived on the outskirts of L160609 at dusk.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the streets were deserted, putting baekhyun more on edge than he already was.  a deep sinking feeling in his stomach warned him that this wasn’t going to go well.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he tried not to think about seeing baëkhyun again.  it wasn’t that he </span>
  <em>
    <span>wanted </span>
  </em>
  <span>to see baëkhyun again, but. . . </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he wanted to see baëkhyun again.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>but he would never admit that to himself.  wanting to see baëkhyun meant betraying exo.  and he would never do that. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the sunset cast purple shadows along the black buildings.   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>finally, the van pulled to a stop.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun looked out of the window.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the building looked different from the last time he’d been there,  when they had been separated from kyungsoo, minseok and yixing.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he was sure that the door hadn’t been skewed sideways then, hanging only by the top hinge.  he was also sure that the windows hadn’t been shattered then, shards of glass sprinkled on the pavement below.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and he was sure suho hadn’t looked at the building then with a mix of fear and horror that increased baekhyun’s own dread.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>but when suho turned to the group, all traces of fright were wiped from his face.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“we’re here,” he said, with a tight smile.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>they climbed out of the car, their shoes echoing on the pavement.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>they started towards the door, but suho held baekhyun back, grabbing his arm.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“baekhyun,” he said, his expression grave.  “if anything happens, i need you to get out and pull the van around to the back entrance.  you can do that for me, right?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun nodded in response, trying not to be disappointed that he wasn’t going to be involved in the action.  they still hadn’t figured out how to remove the cuff from his wrist, so he was still powerless.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>useless. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>exo crossed the threshold and into the building.  the interior was just as worse for wear as the outside; chunks of the wall littered the floor along with pieces of glass.  every footstep crunched as it landed.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>they made their way down the narrow hallway and into the main room, spacious with high ceilings and walls painted white.  there was a long table in the center. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and chen and chën were sitting at it.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the rest of x-exo sat next to him on either side.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>in the corner were kyungsoo, minseok and yixing, bound and gagged.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun’s eyes scanned the table.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun winked at him.  baekhyun’s stomach flipped.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“good evening,” chën started.  “we have a proposition for you.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>suho didn’t say anything. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“come peacefully with us,” chen said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table.  “and no one gets hurt.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“that’s your proposal?” suho asked, scoffing.  “you’re insane if you think we’re just going to agree to that.”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“we can do this the easy way, or the hard way,” chen replied.  “either way, the red force wins.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>from behind baekhyun, chanyeol visibly bristled.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you fucking </span>
  <em>
    <span>traitor</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” he growled, and a fireball whizzed past baekhyun’s ear toward chen’s head.  chanyeol hadn’t aimed well, however, and it simply singed a few hairs on the side of chen’s face.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you’ll regret that,” chën said, already gathering sparks in his fingertips.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“baekhyun, go!” suho hissed as the rest of exo assembled into fighting positions.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun drew back and jogged back down the hall to the van.  he climbed into the driver’s seat, and breathed a sigh of relief when he found the keys still in the ignition.  he started the car, feeling the engine rumble beneath him.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“are we going somewhere?” a voice said.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the blood froze in baekhyun’s veins.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun sat in the passenger seat, his feet crossed on the dashboard.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun opened and closed his mouth, but no sound came out.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“nice van you have here,” baëkhyun said, looking around him.  “is it from nct?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“no,” baekhyun said, but even to himself the lie was obvious.  baëkhyun laughed.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“suho is so predictable,” baëkhyun said, his eyes returning to baekhyun’s face.  baekhyun looked away quickly.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>his fingers tightened around the steering wheel.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“is this real?” baëkhyun asked, leaning forward and tugging on the chain attached to baekhyun’s lip ring.  when it slipped off easily, he laughed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> “i knew you didn’t have the balls to actually do it,” baëkhyun smirked, leaning back in the seat again.  the chain attached to the piercing had been strung through baekhyun’s ear, and it now hung limply from his lobe.  baekhyun suddenly wished he actually had taken haechan’s advice and pierced his lip for real.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“what do you want?” he forced out.  he had forgotten how </span>
  <em>
    <span>small</span>
  </em>
  <span>, how </span>
  <em>
    <span>insignificant</span>
  </em>
  <span> he felt under baekhyun’s gaze.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun didn’t answer for a second.  when baekhyun looked over at him, baëkhyun’s eyes were in his lap.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you,” baëkhyun said softly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun ignored the warmth in his chest. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“uh,” baekhyun said, awkwardly.  “you want me. . . uh, sexually? or—” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“yes,” baëkhyun said, as if it were obvious.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun felt his heart drop just a little bit.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“but that’s not what i meant,” baëkhyun continued.  “what i’m trying to say is. . . we could just run away right now.  away from. . . everyone.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun blinked.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i know a place,” baëkhyun kept going. he wasn’t looking at baekhyun.  “it’s called un village.  it would be safe—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i can’t leave exo,” baekhyun said quietly.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun bit his lip.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“it wasn’t just sehun that the red force was going to kill,” baëkhyun said.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“what?” baekhyun asked.  “you </span>
  <em>
    <span>lied</span>
  </em>
  <span>—?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“they were going to kill you, too,” baëkhyun said.  “and they still will, if they get you.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun sat back in his seat.  the only sound was the humming of the engine.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“but if we go now,” baëkhyun said.  “you’ll be safe.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“why do you care?” baekhyun asked.  this was all so unlike baëkhyun. his mind was spinning.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>a corner of baëkhyun’s mouth quirked up.  he leaned closer.  baekhyun held his breath</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you’re no fun if you’re dead, darling,” baëkhyun smirked.  “so? what do you say?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i can’t leave them,” baekhyun said after a pause.  a lump was growing in his throat.  “i can’t just leave sehun to die—” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“that’s so </span>
  <em>
    <span>stupid</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” baëkhyun said, his voice rising.  he hadn’t ever raised his voice at baekhyun before.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“loyalty to the people who gave me </span>
  <em>
    <span>everything</span>
  </em>
  <span>? my </span>
  <em>
    <span>family</span>
  </em>
  <span>? that’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>stupid,” baekhyun replied, crossing his arms.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“they care about you.  well, must be nice,” baëkhyun rolled his eyes.  he opened the car door and swung his legs off the dashboard.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“wait,” baekhyun said.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun turned back to him expectantly.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“why don’t you come with me? with exo,” baekhyun said slowly.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“that wouldn’t work,” baëkhyun scoffed.  baekhyun knew he was right.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun reached across the center console and found baëkhyun’s hand.  baëkhyun didn’t pull away.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i’m sorry,” baekhyun whispered.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“no you’re not,” baëkhyun said, and before baekhyun could say anything else he was out of the van and walking back into the building.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he didn’t look back.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>for some reason he felt like he was going to cry.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>after a few seconds, baekhyun drove the van around to the back of the building.  he leaned his forehead on the steering wheel, exhausted from the mixture of anxiety and dejection in his chest. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun couldn’t really have expected him to drop everything for him.  after everything, how could he ask baekhyun to run away with him like some eloping couple?  it didn’t make sense.  and what was baëkhyun planning to do when they got there, anyways? make his life miserable somewhere where baekhyun couldn’t call on exo to help him? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun knew turning baëkhyun down was the right thing to do.   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>sometimes he wished he didn’t have to do the right thing.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>just then, the doors of the van were flung open.  baekhyun started, sitting up straight again.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“drive!” suho shouted.  “we have to go now!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun floored the gas pedal. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>they decided to go back to nct.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun had almost protested, now that he’d  found out baëkhyun knew they had gone to nct for help the first time. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>but for some reason, he didn’t think baëkhyun would tell the rest of x-exo where they were.  and if x-exo did show up. . . well, that would mean he would see baëkhyun again.  anyways, he wanted to see mark.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun had already made several wrong turns along the way because suho kept falling asleep instead of giving him directions.  eventually, suho had just taken over and baekhyun made his way back to the rear of the van, leaning his head against the back window, watching the distance between him and baëkhyun grow.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>exo had been successful, though.  kyungsoo, minseok, and yixing sat alive and well in the back of the van next to baekhyun, sleeping soundly.  miraculously, the rest of exo hadn’t even been hurt badly, just a few small scrapes and bruises. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun’s lip ring still dangled from his ear.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he must have fallen asleep at some point, though, because what felt like a few minutes later sehun was shaking his shoulder and telling him that they were back at nct headquarters.   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun stepped out of the van and into the morning light .  he blinked, his eyes adjusting to the brightness. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>there was another van parked beside theirs.  johnny and a man baekhyun recognized as jaehyun were unloading boxes and taking inventory.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“good morning!” jaehyun said, flashing a smile.  he had bright bubblegum pink hair and deep dimples.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>johnny straightened behind him. he still wasn’t wearing anything under his vest. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“back so soon?” johnny asked, his tone light, but with a slight edge of concern.  his face brightened when his eyes landed on yixing, kyungsoo and minseok.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i’ll take you inside,” jaehyun said, setting down a clipboard.  “johnny, make sure yoongi actually gave us coke this time, if he sent us fucking flour again—” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i’ll take care of it,” johnny said.  “also, this new ecstasy strain is supposed to be a fucking trip, we should try it. they’re calling it, like, kkb or something—” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“johnny, no, that’s for kibum, remember?” jaehyun replied.  “you know how he individually counts every fucking pill he gets.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>johnny sighed, and jaehyun turned back around with a soft smile, leading them inside the building.  baekhyun would never have guessed from jaehyun’s full cheeks and pink hair and soft oversized hoodie that he was involved in the drug-dealing side of nct.  johnny, yes.  but jaehyun? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>on the way to the main room, they met haechan walking in the opposite direction.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“where do you think you’re going?” jaehyun asked in a mock serious tone.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“johnny just brought back the shipment, right?” haechan replied.  “i’m going to try to see if i can—” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“haechan, how many times do i have to tell you, it’s for </span>
  <em>
    <span>clients</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” jaehyun replied.  “plus, it’s not even legal, you’re too young—” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“nothing about </span>
  <em>
    <span>this</span>
  </em>
  <span> is legal,” haechan protested, gesturing vaguely to the surrounding air.  “plus, it’s not like you and johnny are slick, i </span>
  <em>
    <span>know</span>
  </em>
  <span> you’ve been—” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“fine, go try to convince johnny, then, be my guest,” jaehyun said, pointing to the door behind him.  “you’re not going to have any more success there.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>haechan just rolled his eyes and walked past them, not acknowledging any of exo.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>they continued down the hallway into the main room, where suho and taeyong immediately sat down together in hushed conversation.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>ten sat at one of the empty seats, his face brightening when his eyes landed on baekhyun.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you ready for your tattoo?” he asked, a blinding smile breaking his face.  “you promised that this time you’d do it. . .” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you know what,” baekhyun said.  “why the fuck not?  yeah, i’ll get a tattoo.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>ten clapped his hands excitedly.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i have the </span>
  <em>
    <span>perfect</span>
  </em>
  <span> design,” he said, standing up and grabbing baekhyun’s arm.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“oh, right now?” baekhyun asked, balking. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“no time like the present,” ten replied, dragging back down the hall and into a side room.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>ten practically pushed baekhyun down into a leather chair.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“so, i’m thinking, these flowers, they’re called jonquils, it’ll really compliment your skin,” ten said, holding up a sketchpad.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i drew them myself,” he added proudly.  “so what do you think?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i like it,” baekhyun breathed, taking the sketchpad from ten’s hands and staring at the designs.  he looked back up at ten.  “yeah, let’s do it.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>ten smiled, readying the equipment.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“so this is all, like, safe, right?” baekhyun asked, looking nervously around the room.  it was pretty evident that most of the equipment had been stolen and scavenged.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“of course,” ten said dismissively, refusing to meet his eyes.  “so, where do you want it? neck might be nice, or maybe over your hip?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“which is less painful?” baekhyun asked.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“hip, probably,” ten mused.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“then yeah, let’s do that,” baekhyun replied.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>a few painful hours later ten was finished, and he was able to admire the black and yellow ink crawling over his skin.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“woah,” baekhyun breathed, admiring the reflection in a mirror ten had handed him.  “thank you, ten, this is perfect.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“no problem,” ten smiled, beginning to clean up the space.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“by the way,” baekhyun said.  “i guess i should have asked this earlier, but don’t flowers have meanings?  what do jonquils mean?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“oh, yeah, i guess i should have told you beforehand,” ten replied, wiping down a counter.  “jonquils traditionally were sent between lovers as a confession, hoping for their feelings to be reciprocated.  so it means something along the lines of  ‘please return my love.’” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun gulped.  suddenly his tattoo looked much too similar to baëkhyun’s.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“anything wrong?” ten asked, turning around.  “it’s normal to feel a little woozy, can i get you anything?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“no, i’m okay,” baekhyun replied.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>but he wasn’t.  </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>thank u guys for reading !!! again i will be back soonish hopefully in two weeks but definitely not more than 3 !! also plugging my twitter if u have any questions my twitter is @markbaeks and u can dm me there or i have a curiouscat linked to it in case you're shy &lt;3 </p><p>pls leave comments bc i love attention and stay safe and healthy as always !! luv u all &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>in which baekhyun cries</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hi baes sorry for the wait school been kicking my ass !! but there's not much school left so updates should be coming quicker soon. . . but ya we finally back !! </p><p>ALSO I LITERALLY HIT 1000 HITS TODAY THANK U SM AAAAAHSHSKFDSKFSKSDKJ 1k hits was my goal for this fic so to already hit it is so!!! exciting !!! im literally so grateful for each and every one of u who read this mwah </p><p>also hit me up on twt @markbaeks it would be super cool to talk more abt do or die on there but the majority of my moots dont know i write so !! also i have a curiouscat linked to my profile so if ur shy u can ask me questions abt dod anytime :)))</p><p>ps happy bday to sunfloweryoongi my beautiful beta reader i luv u sm bae &lt;3333</p><p>without further ado!! here is chap 6 &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“so baëkhyun was just. . . there? in the van?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>mark was sitting on baekhyun’s bed, practically interrogating him about what had happened the day before.  </span>
  <span></span><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“yes,” baekhyun said patiently.  he’d already said this several times.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“so why </span>
  <em>
    <span>didn’t </span>
  </em>
  <span>you run away with him?” mark asked, his brows furrowed.  baekhyun sighed.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“exo are more important to me than cock,” baekhyun replied, rolling his eyes.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“really?” mark asked, feigning surprise.  when baekhyun shoved him playfully, he laughed.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“but seriously, it seems like you’re kind of upset about it,” mark said, concern etched in every feature of his face.  “you’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>sure</span>
  </em>
  <span> that—” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>yes</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” baekhyun said, turning away from mark and rising from the bed.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i mean, it kinda doesn’t seem like it, though,” mark pressed.  “i think maybe that you’re just not </span>
  <em>
    <span>admitting </span>
  </em>
  <span>to yourself that you might have feelings for him.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>despite himself, baekhyun’s face reddened.   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“it wouldn’t even </span>
  <em>
    <span>work</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” he managed through gritted teeth.  “he’s basically my arch-nemesis. i could get </span>
  <em>
    <span>killed</span>
  </em>
  <span>, or worse, get </span>
  <em>
    <span>him</span>
  </em>
  <span> killed—” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>mark raised an eyebrow.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“that’s- i misspoke,” baekhyun backtracked, his cheeks becoming hotter.  “anyways, we’re clones, not star-fucking-crossed lovers.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“well, it seems like you’ve thought about this a lot,” mark remarked with a small smile, standing up. “but i need to meet with taeyong, so i guess we’ll have to talk about this more later.”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he winked, grinning much too enthusiastically for baekhyun’s liking, and slipped out the door. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>taeyong had been able to spare some cots and space so that exo could regroup and figure out where to go next, under the condition that they would help nct on missions if need be.  nct headquarters wasn’t a hotel, taeyong had reminded them.  they had to earn their keep somehow. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>just then, mark’s face peeked through the doorway again.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“back so soon?” baekhyun asked.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“come with me,” mark said simply, gesturing for him to hurry.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>mark led him to the main room, where taeyong, suho, chanyeol, jungwoo, taeil and . . . baekhyun was fairly certain that was jeno. . . were already sitting at the round table.  baekhyun and mark quickly sat down as taeyong cleared his throat.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“so,” taeyong began.  “we are meeting with an informant at a club, the lotto, in district L160818.  there’s brothel attached to it but it’s very. . . under the radar.  only very high-profile clients know of it and it is very heavily protected.  our informant is one of the, um. . .” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“prostitutes?” chanyeol asked.  taeyong winced.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“for want of a better word, yes,” taeyong replied.  “i’ve asked you exo members in particular to help us because this girl has information on the whereabouts of x-exo.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun’s ears pricked up.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“yuta and haechan will help you all get dressed and prepare,” taeyong continued.  “let’s meet outside in. . .” he checked his watch. “half an hour.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun followed mark back down the hallway, where yuta was waiting for them with several silk shirts and shiny silver jewelry.   baekhyun balked when yuta handed him a red and black top, and black pants which looked much too small.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“um,” he said, taking the clothes in his hands hesitantly.  “is this shirt, like, missing part of it or something?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>it had an incredibly deep v-neck, much more revealing than anything baekhyun was used to wearing.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you have to look the part,” was all yuta said, gesturing for him to hurry up and get dressed.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>a few moments later, baekhyun was uncomfortably adjusting his shirt and pants, trying to cover as much skin as possible.  the silk shirt dipped down to the middle of his stomach, and the pants stretched uncomfortably around his thighs, much tighter than he usually wore.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>but when he turned around to look in the full length mirror behind him, he couldn’t deny that he </span>
  <em>
    <span>did</span>
  </em>
  <span> look good.  yuta knew what he was doing after all.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>after clasping necklaces around his neck and parting his hair down the middle with a comb, baekhyun joined the rest of the group outside, standing beside a van.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“baekhyun, you’re here,” taeyong smiled, stepping forward to hand him a small electronic device. “this is an earpiece.  we’ll be able to communicate if we split up or get separated.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun smiled weakly, ignoring the mixed emotions which churned in his stomach at the thought of being separated.  obviously if taeyong was taking this many precautions he must think there was a chance that x-exo might turn up. . . </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>they arrived at the lotto when the sky was just beginning to turn dusty pink in the west.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun felt. . . well, he didn’t know how he felt.  he didn’t know if he wanted to see baëkhyun again, after the way they left each other the last time.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he was being ridiculous.  he didn’t even know if baëkhyun even </span>
  <em>
    <span>was </span>
  </em>
  <span>going to be there.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he just had a gut feeling that </span>
  <em>
    <span>something</span>
  </em>
  <span> was going to happen.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“baekhyun, mark, jeno,” taeyong said.  “i want you to spread out inside and watch for anything unusual.  suho, chanyeol and i are going through the back entrance underground where our informant is.  taeil, you’re on lookout at the front entrance.  jungwoo, keep the van running.”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>with that, taeyong spun on his heel and walked through a narrow alley between the lotto and the neighboring building.  chanyeol and suho scrambled to catch up.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“follow me,” mark said.  he wore a serious, concentrated expression for once.  it made baekhyun nervous, more than he already was.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>as they entered the club, baekhyun’s senses were immediately bombarded by the sound of loud music, the stench of sweat in the air, the sight of swaying people under bright flashing neon lights. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“let’s split up,” mark said, scanning the room.  “if you see anything, you can tell us through the earpieces.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun went to the right, jeno to the  left and mark straight ahead.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>it had been ages since baekhyun had been to a club; he felt conspicuously out of place.  as he headed towards the dance floor, he had to force himself to relax.  he thrust his shoulders back, and let a small smile settle on his lips. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>ever conscious of his task, he only allowed himself to venture to the very edge of the dance floor, where people in clothes much more risqué than even his own were dancing to the loud thrum of the bass blaring from the speakers.  baekhyun let himself sway to the beat slightly, trying not to look nervous as he scanned the area.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>something my his ear crackled.  he flinched.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“baekhyun?” mark voice said.  the earpiece.  baekhyun relaxed his shoulders.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i thought you were going towards the dance floor? what are you doing at the bar?” mark continued.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i </span>
  <em>
    <span>am</span>
  </em>
  <span> on the dance floor,” baekhyun said.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“well, i see you, sitting at the bar, talking to— wait, what’s our informant doing up here?” mark trailed off.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the blood froze in baekhyun’s veins.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he whirled around to face the bar, quickly scanning the occupied seats.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>mark was right.  except it wasn’t baekhyun chatting to a girl in a white dress.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“baekhyun?” mark asked.  “what’s wrong?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun couldn’t speak.  baëkhyun was running his hand down the girl’s arm as she laughed.  he stood frozen as baëkhyun moved his chair closer to her, moved his face closer to hers—</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“no,” baekhyun said, his voice broken.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun’s lips met the girl’s.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun’s stomach dropped.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun could see their tongues sliding between their open mouths.  it made baekhyun want to vomit. he couldn’t tear his eyes away.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun’s fingernails dug into the flesh of his palm. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“baekhyun?” mark asked in his ear again, worry evident in his voice.  “why are you making out with our informant?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“that’s not,” baekhyun gasped, finally finding his voice.  “me.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“that’s not you? then— </span>
  <em>
    <span>oh</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” mark said, finally realizing.  “fuck, baekhyun, we have to get out of here, </span>
  <em>
    <span>now</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun didn’t answer.  the girl was in baëkhyun’s lap now.  baëkhyun’s hands were moving towards her ass, pulling her closer.  baekhyun tasted bile in the back of his throat.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he wanted more than anything to turn away, to forget that this was happening.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>but baekhyun realized, now.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>chën had been right when he said seduction was simply baëkhyun’s strategy to gain his trust. but baekhyun already knew that.  he </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew</span>
  </em>
  <span> that he meant nothing to baëkhyun.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>then why did he feel like this?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>maybe it was just having it thrown in his face.  that he was replaceable.  worthless.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>or maybe it was that baekhyun wasn’t special.  he wasn’t the only one that baëkhyun took to bed, even if it was just a ploy to keep him near.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>or maybe. . . no.  it definitely </span>
  <em>
    <span>wasn’t</span>
  </em>
  <span> that.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>but mark’s voice rang in his ears nevertheless.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>are you sure you don’t have feelings for him?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>tears burned in the back of baekhyun’s eyes. he refused to let them fall.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the girl was kissing down baëkhyun’s neck, and baëkhyun’s hooded eyes as he let his head hang back ignited a churning mess of emotions in baekhyun’s stomach.  he had to consciously remember to breathe. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the memories of his nights with baekhyun were playing in fast motion in his mind.  he could almost hear baëkhyun’s moans in his ears and feel baëkhyun’s lips on his and baëkhyun’s skin under his fingertips—</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun lifted his head, and his eyes caught baekhyun’s.  baekhyun held his breath.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun smirked.  still holding eye contact, he grabbed the girl’s jaw and guided her mouth back to his.  he didn’t look at the girl once.  he kept his eyes locked into baekhyun’s. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun couldn’t do this.  he couldn’t.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“baekhyun!” mark said in his earpiece.  “we need to go! now!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“yea,” baekhyun said, swallowing thickly.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>finally, he tore his eyes away.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun saw mark and jeno holding the door open at the entrance.  he forced his legs to move to the door.   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“are you okay?” jeno asked.  “you’re, like, super pale.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun touched his cheeks.  they felt hot.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“he’s fine,” mark said dismissively, grabbing baekhyun’s arm.  “but we have to go.  </span>
  <em>
    <span>now.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he started talking quickly under his breath, presumably communicating their whereabouts to taeyong through his earpiece. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun stared blankly out into the street.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>deep breaths.  in and out.  in. . . out.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“baekhyun. baekhyun. baekhyun. </span>
  <em>
    <span>baekhyun</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun started.  jeno was talking to him.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“stay in the van,” jeno said, once baekhyun looked at him. “mark and i are going back in to get to the informant.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i’ll come with you,” baekhyun said, straightening his shoulders.  “i’m fine.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“baekhyun,” mark cut in.  “i don’t think that’s a good idea.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i’m </span>
  <em>
    <span>fine.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“no, you’re not,” mark insisted, guiding him to the van. he looked into baekhyun’s face.  “bro, it’s okay not to be okay.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>tears welled in baekhyun’s eyes.  his bottom lip trembled.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“bruh. . .” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“it’s fine,” baekhyun cut him off, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.  “i’ll just wait here.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun spun on his heel and walked over to the van.  instead of climbing inside, he leaned his shoulder against the side of it, finding support in the cool metal.  he didn’t want to face jungwoo, still in the driver’s seat.  the hum of the engine, still on, vibrated under baekhyun’s skin.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun couldn’t even begin to think about it.  he stared down at the sidewalk without really seeing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he heard heavy footsteps of boots on pavement and his </span>
  <em>
    <span>presence</span>
  </em>
  <span> felt so thick and poignant that baekhyun shivered.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“darling,” baëkhyun said.  the silky smoothness of his voice grated on baekhyun’s eardrums.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun didn’t respond, his eyes trained pointedly on the ground.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun laughed.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“if i didn’t know better, i’d think you were. . . </span>
  <em>
    <span>jealous</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”  baëkhyun continued.  by the volume of his voice, he had stepped closer.  it was suffocating.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun’s jaw clenched.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun’s finger hooked under baekhyun’s chin, forcing him to look into his eyes.  baekhyun noted blankly that baëkhyun’s lips were pink and swollen and his eyes were still a little glazed.  he hardened his stare, refusing to be the one who broke eye contact first.  he tried to summon a biting comment, something that would </span>
  <em>
    <span>finally</span>
  </em>
  <span> shut baëkhyun up—</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“and so what if i am?” baekhyun managed.  he cringed inwardly.  not exactly what he was going for.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun raised an eyebrow.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“well, you had your chance, didn’t you?” he replied, a smirk settling on his lips that didn’t quite reach his eyes.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun didn’t know how to respond.  he kept his eyes stubbornly trained into baëkhyun’s face.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>until a movement caught the corner of his eye.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun looked down the street. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>two men dressed in all black, their faces covered, dragged another man between them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>it was chanyeol.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>they had one of chanyeol’s arms each, leading him into a black car with dark tinted windows.   chanyeol was struggling ferociously against them, but to no avail.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun made to shake off baëkhyun off, but before he could move he was slammed back against the door of the van.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun’s face was close, much too close, he couldn’t breathe—</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun’s lips burned when they touched him, leaving baekhyun paralyzed and breathless against the van door.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun couldn’t breathe couldn’t think couldn’t—</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and then baëkhyun raked his teeth along baekhyun’s bottom lip and the sting brought him back to reality.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he needed to get baëkhyun off him, find mark and taeyong and </span>
  <em>
    <span>chanyeol—</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>but his world narrowed to the pair of lips on his as baëkhyun explored his mouth.  the heat of his tongue and the cool metal of the van door and musts and shouldn’ts and wants and </span>
  <em>
    <span>needs</span>
  </em>
  <span> scrambled together in baekhyun’s mind and all he could concentrate on was keeping his breath steady enough to keep kissing baëkhyun until his lips were numb and swollen.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and then he was forced back into the reality again when a shout sounded from down the street.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun broke the kiss, and for a second all baekhyun could do was savor the warmth in his chest at the sight of baëkhyun’s kiss-swollen lips and hooded eyes.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“coming!” baëkhyun responded to the shout, a smirk returning to his lips.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>disappointment settled in baekhyun’s stomach as he realized what the kiss had been.  a distraction. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“payback for last time, hmm?” baëkhyun said, his voice coming out ragged.  he wiped his mouth on the back of his hand.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he stepped back, and took a few steps towards the car where chanyeol had been shoved into.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“see you at the red cube, darling,” baëkhyun winked, and began running in earnest down the street.  as soon as he was inside, the car pulled away from the curb and drove away at a speed much faster than the speed limit. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun blinked stupidly, frozen, unable to comprehend what had just happened.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>just then, mark and taeyong ran out of the lotto’s doors, putting hands on their knees to catch their breath.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“did you see him?” mark panted, looking at baekhyun.  “did you see them take chanyeol?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“they went that way,” baekhyun said, pointing in the direction of the car.  it had disappeared around a corner already.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“fuck,” taeyong groaned, running a hand through his hair.  “fuck, fuck, fuck, </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck!” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun furrowed a brow in confusion.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“they took our informant, too,” mark said, his eyes apologetic.  “we don’t know where x-exo are going.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“well, i know,” baekhyun said.  “baëkhyun said they were going to the red cube.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>taeyong’s eyes snapped up at his words.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you </span>
  <em>
    <span>talked</span>
  </em>
  <span> to him?” he asked.  “what else did he say?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“nothing,” baekhyun said, swallowing thickly.  it wasn’t completely a lie.  they hadn’t exactly done much talking.  “just that he’ll see me at the red cube.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“get in the car,” taeyong said, voice grave.  “i’ll gather the others.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun quietly did as he was told, emotions starting to catch up with him.  he felt like he was going to throw up or cry and he didn’t want to do either in front of taeyong.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>mark climbed into the van behind him, taking a seat next to baekhyun.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“do you want to talk about it?” mark asked quietly.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun shook his head, eyes in his lap.   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“it was a shitty thing for him to do,” mark said.  “isn’t that, like, cheating? he can’t do that to you.  not on </span>
  <em>
    <span>my </span>
  </em>
  <span>watch.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“it’s not cheating,” baekhyun said weakly.  he looked out the window so mark wouldn’t see tears in his eyes.  “we’re not. . . we’re not anything.  so.  he can do whatever he wants.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>mark was quiet for a second.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you like him, don’t you?” mark asked tentatively.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun felt a sob well up in his throat.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he shook his head, unable to form words.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“well, i saw the way he looked at you,” mark continued.  “when you left after he was all over the informant.  it was like. . .” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun looked at mark, interest piquing.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“baekhyun, i think,” mark swallowed.  “and maybe i’m wrong, i mean i’m just giving you my outsider perspective—” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“what?” baekhyun prompted, impatience rising.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“when he looked at you, it was like. . .” mark said.  “it was like his whole superior persona dropped.  like he was just . . . a person.  with nothing to prove.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun sat back in his seat, running his hand through his hair.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“baekhyun, he looked at you like. . .” mark continued.  “like you were like, a light in the dark.  like you are all he needs to, like, survive.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun sniffed.  a tear ran down his cheek.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>god, </span>
  <em>
    <span>why</span>
  </em>
  <span> did it have to be him? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>finally, baekhyun let his tears fall.  he sobbed, curling in on himself.  he felt mark’s hand on his back and he cried and cried until his eyes ran dry and he couldn’t cry anymore.    </span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>again thank u for reading thank u for every comment kudos bookmark and hit u all make me so happy. . . leave a comment bc i love attention and stay safe and healthy !!!!! luv u all &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>in which baekhyun dreams</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hey baes we back !!! i graduated this week so sorry it took a lil longer but next updates will be coming faster !! </p><p>i'm planning on two more chapters aaaa i'm so sad this is coming to an end :(</p><p>thank u to sunfloweryoongi u influenced this chapter v much and i am forever indebted to u for beta reading MWAH ily &lt;3</p><p>and thats it enjoy chap sevennnn&lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>baekhyun sprawled across the hood of a car, the metal warm on his back, sun beating into his squinting eyes.  he twirled a yellow ambrosia blossom between his fingers before tucking it behind his ear.  </p><p> </p><p>someone lounged beside him, his arm around baekhyun’s shoulders.  a part of him knew who it was, but he kept his eyes trained toward the clear blue sky above him, following the few trace wisps of clouds overhead.  </p><p> </p><p>he felt safe.  happy.  for the first time in a long time.  </p><p> </p><p>a droplet of water landed on his face.  and then another.  baekhyun lifted a hand to wipe them off his cheeks.  he looked back up at the sky.  </p><p> </p><p>dark angry clouds swallowed the clear blue, and flashes of lightning illuminated what had before been a bright landscape.  rain began pouring down on him in earnest.  baekhyun’s shirt was soaked through and his hair was plastered across his forehead, a small stream of water running down his nose.  </p><p> </p><p>the person beside him rolled over toward him, bracing himself above baekhyun on all fours, blocking the rain. </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun finally looked baëkhyun in the eyes.  he reached out a hand and traced baëkhyun’s jawline with a finger.  his skin was cold. </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun reached behind baekhyun’s ear and retrieved the flower behind it.  </p><p> </p><p>monkshood.  </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun dropped it. it fell on baekhyun’s chest, right over his heart. </p><p> </p><p>the inside of baekhyun’s mouth turned sour.  he looked back up into baëkhyun’s face.  </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun laughed.  not a typical superior chuckles, but a scoff injected with pure venom.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun shrunk in on himself.  he couldn’t tell if the dampness on his face was the rain or his tears.  </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun lifted himself off of baekhyun, and slid off the hood of the car.  he turned away from baekhyun, walking away, into the horizon.  the rain beating down on baekhyun’s face bordered on painful, and he struggled to see through it to watch baëkhyun as he left.  </p><p> </p><p>he didn’t look back.  </p><p> </p><p>water seeped into baekhyun’s ears, his mouth, his nose.  he screwed his eyes shut but rain still leaked through his eyelids and flooded his eye sockets.  </p><p> </p><p>he held his breath and hoped he would drown.</p><p> </p><p>and baekhyun’s eyes flew open, gasping for air as he sat up straight.  </p><p> </p><p>he was back in his cot at nct headquarters, sweating violently, his skin coated in a sticky sheen in the darkness and gluing his hair to his forehead.  </p><p> </p><p>a dream.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun struggled to steady his breathing.  it wasn’t real.  </p><p> </p><p>he still felt the ghost of the rain surging into his nose and his mouth and throat.  he swallowed thickly.  </p><p> </p><p>he wiped his cheek.  it was wet.</p><p> </p><p>baekhyun shivered.  his blanket laid on the floor beside his cot.  </p><p> </p><p>he pulled it back up and around him, but the warmth didn’t reach his core.  </p><p> </p><p>✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶</p><p> </p><p>the next morning, taeyong gathered all of exo into the meeting room.  </p><p> </p><p>“mark and jungwoo have found the location of the red cube,” taeyong said.  “it’s in district L181102.  and we’ve managed to get a hand on its layout.” </p><p> </p><p>suho raised an eyebrow, impressed.  </p><p> </p><p>“so we’ll be lending you a van, and you’ll take these earpieces,” taeyong continued.  “mark and i will guide you through the building.  it’s like a maze in there, you’ll need our help.” </p><p> </p><p>“thank you so much,” suho said.  “we apologize for being such a burden—” </p><p> </p><p>“no, no,” taeyong protested, smiling warmly.  “i think i speak on behalf of all of us when i say it’s been a pleasure having you at nct.” </p><p> </p><p>doyoung raised a skeptical eyebrow behind him but said nothing.  </p><p> </p><p>“i can provide you with weapons,” taeil added.  “of course, you have your powers, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.”  </p><p> </p><p>taeil had glanced at baekhyun while he spoke, though, and the true meaning behind his words was clear.  that baekhyun needed some way to protect himself.  </p><p> </p><p>“thank you,” suho said warmly.  “we appreciate that, truly.”  </p><p> </p><p>taeil nodded and left the room, presumably to gather the weapons.  </p><p> </p><p>“if possible,” suho added.  “i’d like to request cyanide pills, if you can spare some.” </p><p> </p><p>taeyong furrowed a brow.  “what for?” </p><p> </p><p>“just in case we get captured,” suho said, his tone turning grave.  “we would rather—”</p><p> </p><p>“i understand,” taeyong cut him off.  “i’ll talk to jaehyun.” </p><p> </p><p>“thank you,” suho said, taking taeyong’s hand in his.  “so much.” </p><p> </p><p>a few minutes later, all eight exo members stood at the back of nct headquarters, ready to board the van to the red cube.  </p><p> </p><p>jaehyun walked up to them carrying a paper bag.  he was smiling much too innocently for a man delivering cyanide.  suho took the bag from him and tucked it under his arm.  </p><p> </p><p>mark hugged baekhyun so tightly he could barely breathe, and when he pulled away his eyes were misty.  </p><p> </p><p>“be careful, bro, okay?” mark said, his voice cracking slightly.  </p><p> </p><p>“mark,” baekhyun said, stroking the younger boy’s hair.  “i’ll be okay.” </p><p> </p><p>mark sniffled.  </p><p> </p><p>“punch him in the face for me,” mark said, his bottom lip jutting out in a way that was much less intimidating than he obviously intended it to be.  baekhyun stifled a laugh.  </p><p> </p><p>“if things go to plan, i won’t be seeing him at all,” baekhyun responded.  “and mark, you’ll still be right in my earpiece. and i’m not going away forever.” </p><p> </p><p>“i know, i know,” mark said, sighing.  “but i’m gonna miss you, bro.” </p><p> </p><p>“i’ll miss you, too, bro,” baekhyun smiled.  </p><p> </p><p>boarding the van, he let his confidence fall from his face.  </p><p> </p><p>he wasn’t okay.  </p><p> </p><p>as he sat down, baekhyun felt a crackling in his ear.  </p><p> </p><p>“miss me yet?” mark whispered through the earpiece.  baekhyun looked out the window of the van and met mark’s eyes, and although he was blinking rapidly, a small smile crept onto the boy’s lips.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun waved, and continued smiling back at mark until the van passed around a corner and he couldn’t see him anymore.  </p><p> </p><p>he sat back in his seat, sighing.</p><p> </p><p>“are you okay?” sehun asked.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun started. he hadn’t realized sehun had sat next to him.  </p><p> </p><p>“yeah,” baekhyun said shortly.  “i’m fine.  just tired.” </p><p> </p><p>“not sleeping well?” sehun asked tentatively.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun raised an eyebrow.  </p><p> </p><p>“it’s just that— well,” sehun started.  “you were talking in your sleep last night.” </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun stiffened. </p><p> </p><p>“what did i say?” baekhyun asked, trying to keep curiosity out of his voice.  </p><p> </p><p>“well,” sehun began.  “mostly just baëkhyun’s name over and over.” </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun winced.  </p><p> </p><p>“i didn’t tell anyone,” sehun said hurriedly.  “and i think i was the only one that heard.” </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun nodded, turning to look out the window.  </p><p> </p><p>“baekhyun?” sehun said quietly.  “what’s going on between you and baëkhyun, exactly?” </p><p> </p><p>“nothing,” baekhyun said.  but he couldn’t meet sehun’s eyes.  </p><p> </p><p>sehun shifted awkwardly beside him.  </p><p> </p><p>“from my perspective,” sehun replied, slowly, as if thinking about each word. “it doesn’t look like nothing.” </p><p> </p><p>annoyance ignited in the pit of baekhyun’s stomach.  </p><p> </p><p>“it’s <em> nothing </em>,” he practically hissed.  </p><p> </p><p>sehun bit his lip.  regret replaced annoyance in baekhyun’s chest.  </p><p> </p><p>“also, um,” sehun said before baekhyun could apologize.  “ i guess without you, i’d be dead, and i haven’t really had a chance to thank you so. . . thank you.” </p><p> </p><p>“sehun,” baekhyun said, his voice cracking.  he put his hand over sehun’s.  “you never have to thank me for that—” </p><p> </p><p>sehun hugged him tightly, cutting baekhyun off.  baekhyun squeezed back, hoping to convey without words just how much sehun meant to him. </p><p> </p><p>soon after, sehun fell asleep.  baekhyun watched the landscape pass by out the window and tried not to think too much about what lay ahead of him.  </p><p> </p><p>they arrived at the red cube several hours later, parking the van behind some trees so as not to alert x-exo that they were there.  </p><p> </p><p>they stepped out of the van, squinting as the sunlight reflected off the bright red walls of the cube down the street.  </p><p> </p><p>“ohhhhh,” kai said.  “so <em> that’s </em>why it’s called the red cube.” </p><p> </p><p>everyone looked at him.  </p><p> </p><p>“why did you <em> think </em>it was called the red cube?” kyungsoo asked.  </p><p> </p><p>kai shrugged.  suho rolled his eyes and gestured for them to follow him down the road to the side of the red cube.  </p><p> </p><p>they found a door, but when suho tested the handle, it was locked.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun unsheathed the small pistol taeil had given him and fired at the handle twice.  the doorknob fell to the ground and suho was able to pull the door outward without much resistance.</p><p> </p><p>“taeyong?” suho asked, tapping his earpiece.  “we’re in.” </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun could hear taeyong’s response in his own ear as he began instructing them on where to go.  </p><p> </p><p>the room they walked into had high ceilings and white columns, much unlike the sleek design of the red force prison.  at the other side, a hallway opened into the rest of the building.  </p><p> </p><p>a single piano note rang out suddenly, amplified by echoes bouncing off the walls.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun whirled around, to see kai sitting at a grand piano, frozen with hands poised over the keys.  </p><p> </p><p>“kai,” suho hissed. “now is <em> not </em>the time.” </p><p> </p><p>kai quickly scrambled back to join exo walking across checkered tiles to the opposite side of the room.  baekhyun could see he was valiantly trying to stifle a laugh.  </p><p> </p><p>taeyong instructed them around corners and through hallways, towards the center of the cube, where they guessed chanyeol would be.  </p><p> </p><p>“. . . and if you turn right at the next corner, you’ll see a door on your left,” taeyong said, his voice tinny in their earpieces.  “chanyeol will most likely be behind that door.” </p><p> </p><p>nervousness settled in the back of baekhyun’s throat.  he was having trouble breathing, and around every corner he half expected baëkhyun to leap from the shadows.</p><p> </p><p>as they approached the door, they slowed.  raised voices could be heard from behind it.  </p><p> </p><p>chanyeol’s.  </p><p> </p><p>and chën’s.  </p><p> </p><p>suho stopped them all before the door.  he tested the handle slowly.  </p><p> </p><p>unlocked.  </p><p> </p><p>exo let out a collective exhale.  this would be easier than they originally thought.  </p><p> </p><p>suho held up three fingers silently.  </p><p> </p><p>then two.  </p><p> </p><p>one.  </p><p> </p><p>suho kicked the door open.   </p><p> </p><p>before baekhyun could fully take in chanyeol sitting tied to a chair opposite chën, kyungsoo had  sent a ripple in the earth which toppled his chair over.  chën wasn’t even able to begin to summon sparks to his fingertips before kai was above him.  he slammed chën’s head into the tile.  </p><p> </p><p>chën didn’t move after that.  </p><p> </p><p>when baekhyun turned, suho was already working on chanyeol’s restraints, freeing him from the chair.  he had an ugly purple bruise under his eye, but was otherwise unharmed.  </p><p> </p><p>as soon as he has free, chanyeol rushed over to baekhyun and pulled him into a tight hug.  hugging baekhyun surely was a trend today.  </p><p> </p><p>“i’m sorry,” chanyeol whispered.  “i just kept thinking, what if i never saw you again and- and i’ve been so horrible to you.” </p><p> </p><p>“chanyeol,” baekhyun murmured into his hair.  “it’s ok. i’m here now. and of course i forgive you.” </p><p> </p><p>chanyeol pulled away, his eyes wet.  </p><p> </p><p>“so what’s next?” chanyeol asked, looking towards suho.  “what’s our plan?”</p><p> </p><p>as if on cue, an alarm rang out, the lights flashing on and off.  </p><p> </p><p>suho tapped on his earpiece.  </p><p> </p><p>“taeyong?” he said.  “taeyong? where do we go?” </p><p> </p><p>silence.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun’s heart skipped a beat.   </p><p> </p><p>“taeyong??? taeyong!!!” suho practically shouted.  he was almost slapping his ear now. “fuck.  fuck fuck fuck!” </p><p> </p><p>he ripped the earpiece out of his ear and threw it to the ground.  </p><p> </p><p>“they jammed the signal, didn’t they?” minseok said quietly.  </p><p> </p><p>“no shit, sherlock,” sehun said under his breath.  </p><p> </p><p>“we have to get out of here,” kai said nervously.  </p><p> </p><p>“does <em> anyone </em> remember how to get back?” suho asked, an edge of desperation to his voice.  </p><p> </p><p>none of them said anything.  </p><p> </p><p>“i’m a libra, i’m directionally challenged,” yixing said, breaking the silence.  suho rolled his eyes.  </p><p> </p><p>“come on,” suho said, gesturing for them to follow him out of the door.  “we can’t stay here.” </p><p> </p><p>they found an unlocked door in a nearby passage and pushed it open, revealing a large room which resembled a movie theater.  </p><p> </p><p>they all settled into the red fabric seats.  </p><p> </p><p>“what are we going to do?” kyungsoo asked.  despite the question, his voice had a calming effect on the group, almost as if he had already found an answer.  </p><p> </p><p>suho sighed, running his hands through his hair.  </p><p> </p><p>“let’s split up,” he said finally.  </p><p> </p><p>“that’s not a good idea,” chanyeol protested.  </p><p> </p><p>“it’s better some of us make it out than none,” suho replied, in a way that conveyed the conversation was over.  </p><p> </p><p>✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶</p><p> </p><p>what seemed like hours later, baekhyun and minseok were wandering the red cube halls together, aimlessly turning around corners and opening doors on their way.  baekhyun was almost certain they had been going in circles, but either minseok hadn’t noticed or he didn’t want to voice his concerns. </p><p> </p><p>they hadn’t crossed paths with any of the exo members. or any x-exo members, for that matter.  </p><p> </p><p>minseok sighed.  </p><p> </p><p>“i wonder if the others have had any luck,” he said, his voice weary.  </p><p> </p><p>“i’d hope they’d come get us if they had,” baekhyun responded.  he tried to hide the nervousness in his voice as best as he could.  he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being watched.  </p><p> </p><p>they came to a split in the passage.  they stopped.  </p><p> </p><p>“which way?” baekhyun asked.  </p><p> </p><p>minseok hesitated.  </p><p> </p><p>“what if we each go one way,” he said slowly.  “we’re not having any luck together, so. . . it’s better one of us finds the exit than neither, yea?” </p><p> </p><p>“are you sure?” baekhyun asked.  the idea of being alone in the red cube made him shiver.  </p><p> </p><p>“yea,” minseok replied, attempting a reassuring tone.  he squared his shoulders.  “you go right, i’ll go left.” </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun nodded, not trusting himself to speak.  anxiety was clogging his throat and it was becoming difficult to breathe.  </p><p> </p><p>“baekhyun,” minseok said, taking his hand.  “i’ll see you, later, ok?” </p><p> </p><p>“yeah,” baekhyun managed.  he squeezed minseok’s hand, and hoped it wouldn’t be his last.  </p><p> </p><p>minseok turned and walked down the left branch of the passage.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun took a breath and stepped toward the right.  </p><p> </p><p>footsteps echoed from the passage behind him.  baekhyun stopped in his tracks to listen.</p><p> </p><p>the nagging feeling of being watched crystallized into something much more intense, making physically stumble forward.  </p><p> </p><p>“fancy seeing you here, darling.” </p><p> </p><p>he coiled in on himself at the much-too-familiar voice and the much-too-familiar feeling in the pit of his stomach. he could never tell if it was fear or arousal.  </p><p> </p><p>“there’s no use running, so you may as well stay,” baëkhyun said, his voice louder, closer.  baekhyun’s heart was in his throat.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun turned on his heel to face his clone.  baëkhyun smirked as he came within arms length of him.  </p><p> </p><p>“good boy,” he practically purred.  </p><p> </p><p>a flash of anger turned the corners of baekhyun’s vision red for a second, and his fingers were suddenly gripping the handle of the pistol at his hip.  </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun’s eyes followed his hand and laughed.  </p><p> </p><p>“i think we both know you’d never shoot me, darling,” baëkhyun said, stepping even closer.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun’s fingers tightened, his knuckles turning white.  </p><p> </p><p>“it’s kind of sad, really,” baëkhyun mused.  “how you keep running back to me.” </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun slid the pistol out of the holster.  </p><p> </p><p>“you wanted me to run away with you,” baekhyun managed.  “and i’m not here for you, i’m here for chanyeol.  you were following <em> me </em>.” </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun laughed again.  </p><p> </p><p>“why are you here, then?” baëkhyun replied.  “you have a weapon and i don’t.  and you could have run when you had the chance.”  </p><p> </p><p>“closure,” baekhyun responded, raising the pistol.   </p><p> </p><p>“baekhyun,” baëkhyun said, a flicker of fear breaking his composure. </p><p> </p><p>his own name from baëkhyun’s lips made his hand shake.  and he knew baëkhyun saw it.  </p><p> </p><p>“why did you do it?” baekhyun asked.  </p><p> </p><p>“do what?” baëkhyun asked, nervously eyeing the pistol.  </p><p> </p><p>“kiss her,” baekhyun said, his voice cracking slightly.  </p><p> </p><p>“it was just a kiss,” baëkhyun responded.  “you know.  like us.” </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun didn’t mean to do it.  </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun crumpled to the floor before baekhyun realized he had pulled the trigger.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun stood frozen, not comprehending, as blood spilled out onto the floor.  </p><p> </p><p>“no,” he breathed.  “no no nononono.” </p><p> </p><p>“<em> fuck </em>,” baëkhyun shouted, voice strangled. “the fuck was that for?” </p><p> </p><p>“i’m sorry,” baekhyun said quietly.</p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun looked at him, and through the pain twisting his features baekhyun saw he understood.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun knelt beside baëkhyun, following the trail of blood with his eyes to its source.  </p><p> </p><p>the bullet had only grazed his arm.  baekhyun breathed a sigh of relief.  </p><p> </p><p>he pulled his shirt off, and ripped it into strips, his face reddening as he felt baëkhyun’s eyes on him much too intently.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun bound the fabric around baëkhyun’s arm, making sure to apply adequate pressure.  baëkhyun winced whenever he touched too close to the wound.  </p><p> </p><p>“you don’t have to do this,” baëkhyun said around heavy breaths. </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun didn’t respond, continuing to tie the strips of his shirt around his arm as best he could.  </p><p> </p><p>“the exit,” baëkhyun started.  “is down the passage where minseok went. be quick and find the others and <em> get out of here </em>.” </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun stared at him blankly.  </p><p> </p><p>“just go,” baëkhyun said, avoiding eye contact.  “i’ll be fine.” </p><p> </p><p>“i’m sorry,” baekhyun said again, beginning to rise to his feet.  </p><p> </p><p>baëkhyun grabbed his hand.  baekhyun froze.  </p><p> </p><p>“it’s okay,” baëkhyun whispered, finally looking baekhyun in the eyes.  “but you have to go <em> now </em>.” </p><p> </p><p>“what are we doing?” baekhyun whispered.  “why do we do this—” </p><p> </p><p>he was cut off by a crackling and the voice of chen coming from a walkie talkie at baëkhyun’s hip.  baëkhyun groaned.  </p><p> </p><p>“just go,” baëkhyun said, and baekhyun could see tears welling up in his eyes that weren’t from the physical pain he was in.  “<em> please </em>.” </p><p> </p><p>and baekhyun left.  </p><p> </p><p>✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶</p><p> </p><p>by some miraculous stroke of luck, he followed baëkhyun’s directions down the passage and immediately found minseok and the rest of exo waiting anxiously by the exit.  </p><p> </p><p>“what happened to your shirt?” yixing asked.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun looked down at himself.  </p><p> </p><p>“uh,” baekhyun started.  “it got hot and i uh. . .” </p><p> </p><p>“it doesn’t matter,” suho interrupted.  “we have to go.” </p><p> </p><p>they sprinted back to the van with suho in the lead.  </p><p> </p><p>once they were inside and driving, baekhyun could hear suho speaking quietly to taeyong now that the signal wasn’t blocked.  </p><p> </p><p>baekhyun leaned back in his seat and fell asleep.</p><p> </p><p>✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶</p><p> </p><p>johnny ran his hand through his hair and sighed.  paperwork was his least favorite part of his day, but they had to keep careful inventory of all their clients’ orders. </p><p> </p><p>but his eyes were sore and his hand ached.  he pushed back in his chair and looked out the open doorway across the room to see if jaehyun was nearby.</p><p> </p><p>“jaehyun?” he shouted. </p><p> </p><p>jaehyun poked his head around the doorway.  “yeah?” </p><p> </p><p>“can you grab me one of the new edibles?” johnny asked.  “it’s been a long fucking day.”  </p><p> </p><p>“mhm,” jaehyun said, opening a cupboard right next to the door.  </p><p> </p><p>jaehyun froze.  </p><p> </p><p>“is everything all right?” johnny asked.  </p><p> </p><p>jaehyun turned around silently, a bag in his hand with “cyanide” scrawled across it in black sharpie.  </p><p> </p><p>johnny furrowed his brow.  “what’s that doing in there?” </p><p> </p><p>“this was supposed to go with exo,” jaehyun said slowly.  </p><p> </p><p>johnny clapped a hand over his mouth.  </p><p> </p><p>“then what do exo have?” he asked.  </p><p> </p><p>“kibum’s new ecstasy strain,” jaehyun said, wincing.  </p><p> </p><p>johnny’s eyes widened.  “fuck.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>as always thank u sm for reading !!! pls leave a comment i love love love reading n responding to them all &lt;3</p><p>hope u r all staying safe and taking care of urselves mwah &lt;3</p><p>and dont forget my twt is @markbaeks hehe ;)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>in which baekhyun realizes</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hey baes we back!! </p><p>second 2 last chapter im so SAD but thank u all for staying w me on this journey one more left &lt;333</p><p>thank you so so much for everything i am grateful for every kudos comment bookmark subscription EVERYTHING i love u all so much !! </p><p>WARNING !! the beginning of this chapter deals w suicidal thoughts, so if its triggering for u start at the break (the separating 9stars) !! and a summary of what happened is baek figures out the pills arent cyanide and has a hallucination where he nd baëk make out :) </p><p>okie without further ado, enjoy!!!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>taeyong thought the best place for exo was in district L170708.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun thought the best place for himself would be six feet under the ground.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>okay, maybe that was a little dramatic. but he wanted so badly to be free from the emotions tearing his mind and soul apart.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>however, he knew resolving his inner conflict would entail accepting something which would cause him even more internal turmoil.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>it was the dead of night in the silent van, and here he was, staring at the brown bag which contained the cyanide pills that rested on the center console. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>only the rhythmic breathing of the sleeping members could be heard.  they had stopped driving for the night so everyone could get sleep.  but baekhyun couldn’t.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>careful to keep quiet, he walked over to the bag.  he opened it, looked inside and furrowed a brow.  why had johnny given them so many pills? they only needed a maximum of eight. . .</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he reached inside and pulled out the smooth white pill which would end everything.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>every agonizing thought and suffocating feeling.  gone.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he would be free.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun looked around at the sleeping boys around him.  his friends.  his family.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and he hoped they would understand.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>before he could reconsider, he tipped his head back and relaxed his neck to let the pill slide down his throat.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he sat down.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>it was awkward, waiting for death.  baekhyun didn’t know what to do with his hands.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he hoped it wouldn’t hurt.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>his eyes burned with tears at the realization that exo were going to wake up the next morning and find him here, dead.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>suddenly it was hard to breathe, and his anxiety spiked.  he closed his eyes, trying to calm himself.  he could feel a sticky sweat building on his brow.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he tried to steady his breathing but his chest burned.  his mouth felt dry.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>his heart was beating much too fast and he could feel his blood pumping in his ears.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun held his head in shaky hands and focused on breathing.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>was this really what death felt like? he thought it would be quieter.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>it didn’t matter.  everything would be over soon.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and then he felt a hand on his shoulder.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun opened his eyes and looked up.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun looked down at him.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“hello, darling,” he said, but his voice sounded faraway and distorted.  baekhyun blinked.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“am i in hell?” baekhyun asked.  his mouth felt like it was full of cotton.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun laughed.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you’re not dead,” baëkhyun told him, his hand running along baekhyun’s cheek.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i have to be,” baekhyun said.  “or you wouldn’t be here.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun knelt down to his level.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“but i’m </span>
  <em>
    <span>always</span>
  </em>
  <span> with you, aren’t i?” he smiled.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the way he was looking baekhyun made him feel like he was transparent.  he swallowed.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>his throat felt dry and he still felt fidgety, like there was something he should be worrying about but it was hiding away in the far reaches of his mind.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun leaned closer.  baekhyun’s heart leapt into his throat.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i-,” baekhyun started.  the rest of the sentence got lost between his mind and mouth.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun didn’t seem to mind.  he smiled before closing the gap between them.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the kiss simultaneously awoke something deep within him and broke him apart.  he didn’t care that his lungs burned or that his head was spinning or that the person he was to spend his last moments with was the very person he had been trying to escape. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun’s heart was in his mouth.  baëkhyun sucked on it.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>every swipe of baëkhyun’s tongue reverberated through his body, settling in his soul.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and baekhyun felt at home.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the realization sent tears rolling down his cheeks.  he sobbed against baëkhyun’s mouth. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he wanted this.  </span>
  <em>
    <span>this</span>
  </em>
  <span>, with baëkhyun’s hands in his hair and his mouth on his.  </span>
  <em>
    <span>this</span>
  </em>
  <span>, where they could be—</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun pulled away, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i-,” baëkhyun started, before he evaporated into the darkness.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the pressure building inside baekhyun bubbled over and he collapsed on the van floor. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>someone was sobbing loudly and it took him a few minutes to realize the sound was coming from his own lips.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he knew what baëkhyun had been going to say.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and he wanted so desperately to hear those three words from his lips.  so he would know it was ok to feel like this.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and that baëkhyun felt it too.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>that this was real.  that </span>
  <em>
    <span>they</span>
  </em>
  <span> were real.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he dug his fingernails into the palms of his hands and screwed his eyes shut.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and then there were hands on him and concerned voices and blurry faces and baekhyun didn’t remember anything after that.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun was surprised to wake up.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>every muscle in his body ached when he rose from the floor of the van. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the van wasn’t moving.  and it was empty.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he wasn’t dead.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“hello?” he said.  or croaked, more accurately.  his throat felt like sandpaper.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>kai poked his head through the door of the van.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“he’s awake!” he yelled.  it made baekhyun wince.  his head hurt.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and then suho was in front of him asking him questions so fast he couldn’t distinguish one from the other.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun just stared at him blankly until suho finally took a breath.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i don’t think that was cyanide,” baekhyun managed.  his eyelids felt heavy. . . he wanted to </span>
  <em>
    <span>sleep</span>
  </em>
  <span>. . . </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“well, that’s obvious, as you’re still alive,” suho huffed, rolling his eyes.  “i talked to taeyong and he said that there may have been some confusion in some of the orders that johnny and jaehyun were arranging.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun nodded, his head getting heavier by the second.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“what were you </span>
  <em>
    <span>thinki—”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and baekhyun was asleep.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>it was the next night.   baekhyun was again staring at the bag of pills, but this time in an abandoned motel that exo had taken refuge in.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>everyone else was asleep.  and suho hadn’t really </span>
  <em>
    <span>said</span>
  </em>
  <span> he wasn’t supposed to.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he was itching to see him again.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>before he could second guess himself again, he swallowed down a pill and waited.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he gritted his teeth through the first few moments of quickened heartbeat and shaking hands and stuttering breaths.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and then he was there.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun didn’t talk this time.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>everything happened so fast it was overwhelming.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun’s hands were everywhere and his mouth was swallowing him and he couldn’t breathe and there were fingers around his throat</span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>baekhyun wanted it he wanted</span><em><span> him</span></em><span> he wanted this so bad his</span> <span>legs were shaking no matter how wrong it was for him to want him he couldn’t help it he was suffocating and baëkhyun was there above him and he was saying something but he couldn’t hear it didn’t matter just please please don’t leave don’t leave stay please come back he wanted—</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he wanted— </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>when baekhyun came down from the high there were tears on his cheeks. </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>it had been a week since exo had taken refuge in the abandoned motel in district L170708.  It was in decent shape, and with a little cleaning up had been quite a comfortable space to. . . </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>well, they weren’t quite sure what they were doing.  waiting? planning? regrouping?  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>whatever it was, it certainly involved baekhyun watching sunsets alone yearning for the light to course through his body again.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he had taken to getting high and setting off fireworks.  if he let himself completely surrender to the substance, he could almost feel the light in his veins.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and always, without fail, there was baëkhyun.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he didn’t know why.  sehun had taken the pills several times now too and said he had different hallucinations every time.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>but baekhyun was okay with this.  he could see baëkhyun whenever he wanted without all the complicated and painful and confusing parts.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>except for the cruel reminder every time he became sober that he could never have baëkhyun for real.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and baëkhyun would never know.  the real baëkhyun, anyways.  the baëkhyun he had created in his mind’s eye knew too much.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he blushed whenever he recalled what scraps of conversations he could remember the next morning.  and the things they did beyond conversations.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>today was a typical afternoon for baekhyun.  he was sitting on the porch watching the sun fall behind the trees on the horizon, waiting for the drug to take control of his mind.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he always hated the first few moments.  when his pulse quickened and his hands shook and his pupils dilated so the light outside became too bright.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he squeezed his eyes shut.  it would be over soon.  he would be safe soon.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and then he felt him.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun opened his eyes, and there baëkhyun was, climbing up the steps of the porch towards him.  baekhyun smiled, feeling his body relaxing.  he just felt almost tipsy, like the filter between his mind and mouth was gone.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i have something for you,” baëkhyun said.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he was much more in focus than normal.  usually he was fuzzy around the edges.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“is it your cock?” baekhyun slurred, stretching out lazily on the wicker bench he was sitting on.  “usually it’s your cock.”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun looked surprised.  that didn’t usually happen.  baekhyun laughed at his confused expression.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“are you. . .?” baëkhyun started.  “high? drunk? or something?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i am really fucking high right now,” baekhyun giggled. he pointed vaguely at baëkhyun.  “that’s why you’re here.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun opened his mouth to respond, but then paused, schooling his features into his usual calm, superior expression.  he took several steps forward until he could hook a finger under baekhyun’s chin.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i’ve heard rumors about fireworks being set off here every night,” baëkhyun said quietly.  “it sounded like you.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun nodded.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i get super fucking high and set them off and it’s almost like having my powers back,” baekhyun responded.  “plus, i get to see you. ” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“how often do you see me when you’re like this?” baëkhyun asked.   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“every day,” baekhyun responded, squirming.  usually it was a little quicker getting down to business than this.  baëkhyun usually didn’t ask questions.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun looked surprised again.  baekhyun laughed, grabbing his face and pulling it towards his own.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun was frozen against his lips for a moment before they melted into each other.  baekhyun felt a heat begin brewing in the pit of his stomach.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>this felt so much more. . . </span>
  <em>
    <span>real</span>
  </em>
  <span> than the other times. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun began kissing down his neck and baekhyun’s back arched, sighing softly, contentedly.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you feel so good,” baekhyun breathed, burying his fingers in baëkhyun’s hair.  it felt soft.  he wondered again why this time the sensations were so heightened.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>what did it matter? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun pulled away.  baekhyun whined, trying to grab at his shoulders to pull him back down on top of him.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“why do you want to see me?” baëkhyun asked, swatting baekhyun’s hands away.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“because,” baekhyun pouted.  “now will you </span>
  <em>
    <span>please</span>
  </em>
  <span> kiss me again—” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“not until you answer me,” baëkhyun said in a voice which sent shivers down baekhyun’s spine.  he smiled.  that, at least, was familiar.  “why are you doing this to yourself?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“because,” baekhyun said again.  baëkhyun raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i’m safe with you,” baekhyun said, breaking eye contact.  suddenly baëkhyun was much too close to him.  his presence was suffocating.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun laughed nervously.  he had said these words before but for some reason today he was especially self-conscious. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i used to wish i could forget you,” baekhyun continued.  “i don’t think i’ve stopped thinking about you since we got captured the first time.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he was babbling now, the words coming thick and fast.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“it was infuriating.  you’re really annoying, you know.  and i hated you.  i still do, a little,” baekhyun swallowed.  “but for some reason, the world keeps throwing us together.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun looked back into baëkhyun’s eyes.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“and i’m glad,” baekhyun finished, his voiced barely louder than a whisper.  “i’m so, so glad.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun looked back at him with an expression baekhyun had never seen before, but before he could think too deeply about it baëkhyun had dove down and captured his lips again, wiping all thoughts from his mind.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun sighed as the familiarity and comfort and </span>
  <em>
    <span>home</span>
  </em>
  <span> settled into his stomach.  this wasn’t a fight for control.  they simply drank each other in and savored each other’s tastes.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun wanted him just as much as he did.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun didn’t think he had felt happier in his life.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he clung to baëkhyun as if that would hold them still in time.  so they could exist as they were here forever.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>when baëkhyun trailed kisses down baekhyun’s neck he could feel the yearning in each one.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“what was it you had for me?” baekhyun asked breathlessly.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“hmm?” baëkhyun hummed, moving baekhyun’s shirt to give him access to his collarbones.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“the first thing you said to me today,” baekhyun said around breathless wimpers.  “you had something for me.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun pulled away and looked baekhyun in the eyes.  he kissed his cheeks, his forehead, his nose, his eyelids.  it made baekhyun giggle.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“chen sent me to give you a letter,” baëkhyun said finally.  he pulled a piece of paper out of his back pocket.  “it gives the location and time where he wants to meet with you for. . . well, in his words, ‘the final round.’” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun furrowed a brow.  baëkhyun didn’t usually mention anyone else.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“uh, ok,” baekhyun responded, taking the paper from baëkhyun.  he slipped it in his own pocket.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i need to go,” baëkhyun said quietly.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“no,” baekhyun said, “don’t leave.  please.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun sighed, conflict evident on his face.  he sat up, wincing as he put weight on his arm as he lifted himself upright.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun almost started crying again. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i’m sorry,” baekhyun said, his voice wobbly.  “i really didn’t mean to shoot you.  i was just. . . you saying that we were just- just—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i know,” baëkhyun replied, stroking baekhyun’s hair.  “i deserved it.  it’s okay.”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>they sat in silence for a few minutes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“you know,” baekhyun started.  “this time. . . you look really real.”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun smiled in a way that made him feel like he was being left out of a joke.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i meant everything i said before,” baekhyun mused, almost talking to himself.  “i hope. . . i hope someday i can tell you for real.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun’s expression turned pensive.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“baekhyun,” he started slowly.  “if you remember anything when you’re sober. . . i hope you remember this.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and he kissed baekhyun one last time before he left.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>things much too potent to be expressed with mere words passed between their lips. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun’s world narrowed down to baëkhyun’s mouth.  he savored the sting of baëkhyun taking his bottom lip between his teeth, and the relief of him soothing it with his tongue.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he tried to commit every detail of every sensation to memory so he could revisit it when he was sober.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he didn’t know how he’d ever felt conflicted, how he’d ever questioned this, when it felt so good and right and just. . . like this was how it was supposed to be.    </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he was happy and he was safe and he was never going to let baëkhyun leave him again.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>but he knew this would be over soon.  the hallucinations usually didn’t last this long.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>so baekhyun held him tight while he still could.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he desperately hoped that somehow, somewhere, the real baëkhyun knew how he really felt.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>when baëkhyun pulled away he took a piece of baekhyun with him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun must have dozed off because he woke up sober, still on the porch.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun was nowhere to be seen.  he tried not to feel disappointed.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>as he stared up into the now star-filled sky he basked in the leftover emotions from his high.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>it had been so much more intense.  he took a shaky breath, trying to feel everything as deeply as he could.  he had denied them for so long it felt good to accept everything that he had exiled to the far corners of his mind.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>as he rose he felt something in his pocket.  he pulled out a piece of paper.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the piece of paper baëkhyun had given him.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun’s mind reeled and he almost fell to the ground.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>it </span>
  <em>
    <span>had</span>
  </em>
  <span> been real.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>oh fuck.  oh fuck oh fuck.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun ran inside to find the nearest mirror.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>those were definitely real hickeys.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun had been there. in the flesh.  for real.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>warmth rose in his cheeks as he remembered the things he’d said.  but a giddiness crept in his chest too.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun knew.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and he felt the same way.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun bit his lip to conceal a smile and felt his eyes fill with tears.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>ty for reading MWAH dont forget my twt is @markbaeks if u wanna yell at me and i have a curiouscat if u shy ;)</p><p>leave a comment if youre sexy</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>in which baekhyun</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>the last chapter :(((</p><p>thank u everyone who's been reading along with me on this journey i appreciate all of u so so so much !!!! and big big thank u for 100 kudos and 1500 hits u r all insane </p><p>this has been a fun fun time 4 me and the fact that u guys enjoy the most self indulgent 30k words in existence is very crazy 2 me </p><p>i luv u all !!!! </p><p>and also final shoutout to sunfloweryoongi i love u so much and without u this literally would not exist. so for u i am either forever grateful or forever resentful.  u decide </p><p>and without further ado, the end :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>baekhyun unfolded the piece of paper baëkhyun had left him.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>written on it were the words “district L170905” followed by coordinates to a more exact location. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>his fingers trembled around the paper.  part of him still couldn’t believe it was all real.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he walked inside to find suho, kai and chanyeol lounging on the couches, watching tv.  baekhyun explained as quickly as he could without telling them about what had happened with him and baëkhyun.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i thought heard something outside,” kai smirked, wiggling his eyebrows.  baekhyun flushed.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>suho gathered them all eight of them together to discuss what they should do next.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“well, what’s the worst that can happen if we just don’t show up?” chanyeol asked.  “i like it here, and i don’t think we should leave if we don’t absolutely have to.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>suho nodded.  “and this could very well be a trap.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“they know where we’re hiding, since baëkhyun came here personally,” baekhyun replied.  “if we don’t show up, they could ambush us; they have the upper hand.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>suho sighed.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i want to stay here, too,” suho started, his tone heavy.  “but baekhyun’s right.  they know where we are, so we’re in danger even as we speak.  we should go.”  his voice had such a determined edge to it that no one questioned him.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the next day they were back on the road, taeyong in suho’s earpiece directing them.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the several hour drive stretched into what felt like days due to the lingering nervousness in the air.    </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun didn’t know how to feel.  he didn’t know what to expect.  would baëkhyun pretend it never happened? would he confess?  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>they stopped outside a warehouse, its walls made of steel.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun shivered.  he didn’t have a good feeling about this.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>exo stepped out of the van, pausing to size up the building and what it may contain.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun was about to step forward when a crash shook the earth beneath them.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“what the </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck—!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” chanyeol yelped, jumping back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>a long robotic arm broke through the front wall, a metal claw snapping at them.  the front wall of the building splintered in all directions, and baekhyun had to throw his arms up in front of his face to block debris from hitting him.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>a large, egg-shaped robot emerged from the collapsed walls.  it was huge, casting a long, dark shadow over exo.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>as it began to move forward, baekhyun ducked behind a particularly large piece of fallen wall.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he looked over his shoulder and saw the rest of exo still facing the robot, resolve in their eyes.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun gritted his teeth.  he wanted nothing more than to be up there with them.  he fiddled with the cuff on his wrist.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he hated that he had to hide.  like a coward.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>a flash of light caught the corner of his eye and he turned just in time to see red-hot laser beam burst from the robot’s arm.  kai jumped out of the way with a start.  the ground where he had been standing a second before was scorched black.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun gulped, turning back to the robot.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he was scared.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he hated himself for it.  a few months earlier he would have been up there with the rest of exo, fearless.  confident.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he wouldn’t have been a dead weight exo had to make up for.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he watched, helpless, as exo struggled to control and defeat the robot.  baekhyun could see frustration etched in sehun’s face as he tried in vain to throw the robot off balance with wind.  annoyance in minseok’s features as every time he encased the claw in ice it broke free.  the robot wasn’t fazed by fire or water or earth.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he watched as exo’s expressions shifted from determination to desperation.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun had to do something.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he looked down at the metal sheet before him.  he looked back up at the robot.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the soft whirring indicated that the robot was gearing up for another burst of red energy.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>an idea struck him.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun hefted the piece of metal over his shoulder as he stood.  it was heavier than he thought it would be and he stumbled.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he ran, or hobbled, more accurately, toward the robot, positioning the metal sheet so it would act as a shield.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he ignored the voices behind him telling him to stop.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun prayed it would work.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he felt the heat a split second before the impact of the laser on the shield knocked him off his feet.   for a moment he was suspended in the air, holding his breath as he braced himself for landing.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>pain blossomed from his shoulder as he hit the ground and rolled.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>for a moment he was too stunned to move.  the tangy taste of blood coated his tongue.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>finally, baekhyun lifted his head.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the laser had reflected off his makeshift shield back towards the robot just like he thought it would.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the robot, teetering on its spindly legs.  a charred gaping hole in the center smoked slightly, and its claw fell limp to the ground.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun grinned.  the adrenaline rush from actually being useful numbed the pain in his shoulder for the most part.  his head buzzed.   he felt </span>
  <em>
    <span>alive</span>
  </em>
  <span>.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>suho rushed over, crouching beside him.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“are you okay?” suho asked.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“never been better,” baekhyun replied, a smile still splitting his face.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>suho opened his mouth to respond when a grumbling from the robot diverted their attention.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>a tray-like appendage had extended from the bottom of it, and on it lay a bright blue orb, adorned with a water droplet symbol.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>exo cautiously walked towards the robot, poised to retaliate if the claws awoke.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>when they were within arm’s length and nothing happened, suho, in the lead, paused.  the rest of exo stood behind him, waiting.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“pick it up,” kai whispered.  “the symbol must mean it’s for you.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>suho nodded, as if he already knew.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he took the orb in his hands, rolling it over his fingers, studying it.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and then he vanished into thin air.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>none of them moved.   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the robot grumbled again, and a new orb rolled down a chute onto the tray.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>it was a pale teal, with a snowflake carved into it.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>minseok stepped forward.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>as he picked it up, he disappeared too.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“ok, </span>
  <em>
    <span>what</span>
  </em>
  <span>’</span>
  <em>
    <span>s</span>
  </em>
  <span> going on?” kai said, a bewildered edge to his voice.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>one by one, the orbs rolled down onto the tray.  one by one, the exo members picked them up.  and one by one, they vanished.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>until just baekhyun was left.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he had been dreading it since it all started.  the orbs obviously correlated with each member’s power.   but would the robot even know he had powers? would he have an orb? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>his fears were confirmed when after several minutes of waiting, the robot lay silent.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun kicked at the ground in frustration.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“fuck you,” he said to the robot.  the robot didn’t respond.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun sighed, slumping to the ground, head in his hands.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he was </span>
  <em>
    <span>tired</span>
  </em>
  <span> of being left out.  tired of being left behind.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he felt something on his leg.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he started, looking down.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>a small white kitten stared up at him.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>it had bright blue eyes.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun’s eyes.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun gulped.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the kitten blinked.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun carefully, slowly, extended his hands towards the kitten.  it sniffed him leisurely, then purred, rubbing its head into his hands.  baekhyun smiled.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he lifted the kitten, bringing it closer to his face.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the kitten seemed to almost smile at him.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and then the ground fell out from beneath him and his stomach leapt into his throat and he was spinning through empty space so fast he couldn’t tell up from down.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun landed hard on his feet at the edge of a cliff.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he took a quick few steps back from the edge to be safe, taking in his surroundings.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>his senses were bombarded with bright flashes of fire and lightning and crashes of earth and wind as he turned and made out exo and x-exo engaged in battle.  baekhyun stumbled as the ground rippled beneath him.  a cliff was a very </span>
  <em>
    <span>inconvenient</span>
  </em>
  <span> place to have this “final showdown” or whatever the fuck chen wanted to call it.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>god, he wished he could actually be useful.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the pain in his shoulder was beginning to actually make itself felt, along with several large bruises down his torso and legs.  he groaned.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he suddenly realized he had lost track of his kitten.  he turned back toward the cliff edge.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>the kitten was gone.  baëkhyun stood in its place.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun smiled despite the sudden nervousness he felt.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun, as always, was cool and collected, a small smirk on his lips.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“shouldn’t you be out there?” baekhyun asked, gesturing to the battle going on behind him.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i had something more important to do,” baëkhyun said lightly.  baekhyun’s heart leapt into his throat.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“how much do you remember of what happened?” baëkhyun asked, stepping closer, taking one of baekhyun’s hands in his.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun’s breath hitched.  “enough,” he replied, voice barely above a whisper.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun smiled wickedly.  “so you remember everything you said—” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>yes</span>
  </em>
  <span>, i remember everything i said,” baekhyun cut him off, his cheeks burning.  he couldn’t make eye contact.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun lifted his chin with his finger. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“hey,” he said softly.  “did you mean it?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun could only nod.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun smiled— not a superior smirk or a sneer, but an expression of genuine happiness.  baekhyun melted.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“if i asked you to run away with me again, would you do it?” baëkhyun whispered.  for the first time, he looked actually vulnerable.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>before baekhyun could answer a the earth shook, and baekhyun found himself falling forward into baëkhyun’s arms.  baekhyun’s stomach dropped when he realized how close they were to the edge.   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i got you,” baëkhyun whispered.  baekhyun felt warmth spread from his stomach.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he was safe.   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>suddenly baekhyun remembered his surroundings.  he looked back over his shoulder anxiously.  but both exo and x-exo were much to preoccupied to pay attention to them.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“so?” baëkhyun asked.  baekhyun could feel his breath on his nose.  even though there was no reason to keep clinging to him, he wanted to be held by baëkhyun forever.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“hmm?” baekhyun asked, much too distracted counting baëkhyun’s individual eyelashes that he couldn’t remember the question.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“run away with me?” baëkhyun asked again, holding baekhyun’s face in his hands.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun felt the tug of exo’s bond at his heart.  they were his friends.  his family.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>but if he was being honest with himself, exo didn’t need him anymore.  only chen could give him his powers back, and baekhyun knew he never would.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>so he took a shaky breath and said yes.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun hugged him so hard baekhyun thought his ribs would break.  but he didn’t care.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“baekhyun,” baëkhyun mouthed into his hair.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun sighed.  he would never get over the thrill down his spine when baëkhyun said his name.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i need to tell you something,” baëkhyun mumbled.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“yeah?” baekhyun prompted, holding his breath.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i love you,” baëkhyun whispered into his ear.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun’s heart swelled.  he was smiling so widely he half-expected his face to split in half.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“what was that?” he replied, giggling.  “i didn’t—” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun shoved him back playfully, but he was laughing, and baekhyun was laughing, and baekhyun wished he could stay in this moment forever.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“i love you,” baëkhyun said again.  “i love you i love you i—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“baëkhyun,” baekhyun interrupted.  he felt giddy.  “i—” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and a ripple of the earth threw him backward.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baëkhyun watched it happen as if in slow motion.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he couldn’t stop it.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he could only watch as his world shattered.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>as the light left it.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>this time it wasn’t baëkhyun pushing him over the edge.  and this time baëkhyun couldn’t pull him back.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>baekhyun’s last coherent thought was the hope that baëkhyun knew what he was going to say.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and then it it was cold wind howling and he was going down way too fast and his stomach was in his throat and fuck there was really no way out of this and </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>splash!</span>
  </em>
</p><p><br/><span>he was drowning he needed to get to the surface but </span><em><span>where was it </span></em><span>he couldn’t tell up from down and</span> <span>he couldn’t breathe couldn’t think but he </span><em><span>needed </span></em><span>to get back he couldn’t die not yet he needed to tell baëkhyun that he </span></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>i don't even know what to say here IM SO SORRY but tgis is in fact the end.  i am so sorry but it had to be done it was the Right Ending but im so sorry </p><p>to make up for it a little here r some fun things that almost happened but didn't; deleted scenes, if you will: </p><p>- chenle was almost leader of nct just for giggles ( sunflower yoongi aka em's idea)<br/>- it almost ended w real exo kpop baekhyun waking up and it was all a crazy ass dream and he took the concept to lee sooman and kpop group exo concept was born (also em's idea) <br/>- oh yea dotae and markhyuck canon just bc i want them to be. johnjae are JUST BROS (except for that one time)<br/>- another alternative ending that almost happened is the whole thign was orchestrated by x-exo to get baekhyun and baëkhyun together which would have explained away all the plot holes and convenient happenings that moved the plot along but that didn't happen and baekhyun is d word <br/>- i can't remember any more that aren't boring but it was a lot of internal conflict abt the ending i literally debated up until the very</p><p>my twt is @markbaeks if u want to follow or yell at me</p><p>and again thank u sososososo much the response to this fic has kinda been insane to me and i luv u all <br/>-</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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